Glacier County, Montana

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Elevated poverty: At 31.1%, 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.
• Young population: Median age of 33 is materially below the U.S. norm, a workforce pipeline asset.

• Largest sector: Accommodation and Food Services employs 408 workers (28% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $28,493.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $650M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Utilities averages $97,613 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $28,493, a 3.4x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Utilities concentrates at 4.30x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 4 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
• Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.5x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• Elevated vacancy: 19.8% 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.
• Affordable rent tiers: 2 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,172/mo).

• Low participation: 58% labor force participation suggests untapped capacity; workforce development programs may unlock supply.
• Short commutes: 14.7-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
• Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 7,525 annual credentials.

Glacier County shows meaningful potential for utilities attraction, with a 4.30x concentration and 70 jobs in this sub-sector.

The interconnected base across utilities, animal production and aquaculture, and accommodation creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.