Atlantic County, New Jersey

• Aging population: Median age of 42 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Accommodation and Food Services employs 34,040 workers (35.7% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $42,190.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $19.4B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $108,666 while Other Services (except Public Administration) averages $39,494, a 2.8x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Accommodation concentrates at 14.10x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 6 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 3.8x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• Elevated vacancy: 17.1% 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: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,951/mo).

• Succession risk is real: 25% 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 24,370 annual credentials.

Atlantic County shows strong potential for accommodation attraction, with a 14.10x concentration and 21,756 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 25% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across accommodation, crop production, and amusement, gambling, and recreation industries creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.