Belknap County, New Hampshire

• Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
• Aging population: Median age of 48 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Retail Trade employs 4,981 workers (27.1% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $43,174.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $4.3B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Management of Companies and Enterprises averages $98,782 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $31,837, a 3.1x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing concentrates at 4.34x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• 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: 6 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 4.0x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 80.1% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 32.5% 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.
• Affordable rent tiers: 4 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$2,320/mo).

• Succession risk is real: 30.2% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 35,524 annual credentials.

Belknap County shows meaningful potential for fabricated metal product manufacturing attraction, with a 4.34x concentration and 1,029 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 30.2% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across fabricated metal product manufacturing, clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers, and building material and garden supply retailers creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.