Sanilac County, Michigan

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Elevated poverty: At 15.3%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 19.2 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 46 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Manufacturing employs 2,628 workers (37.8% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $64,399.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.7B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $89,802 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $17,963, a 5.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing concentrates at 12.82x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
• Attraction whitespace: 7 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.9x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 82.6% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 19.5% vacancy rate. In resort, rural, and seasonal markets much of this is recreational/seasonal (second homes), not available supply; confirm the vacancy-by-reason split before treating it as a redevelopment opportunity.
• Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,472/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 27.9% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 56.7% labor force participation suggests untapped capacity; workforce development programs may unlock supply.
• Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 35,780 annual credentials.

Sanilac County shows strong potential for fabricated metal product manufacturing attraction, with a 12.82x concentration and 1,215 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 27.9% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across fabricated metal product manufacturing, animal production and aquaculture, and plastics and rubber products manufacturing creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.