Cape May County, New Jersey

• Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
• Aging population: Median age of 52 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Accommodation and Food Services employs 11,395 workers (37.6% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $35,005.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $7.8B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $99,520 while Educational Services averages $19,724, a 5.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation concentrates at 8.32x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 8 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 4.8x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 80.3% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 54.9% 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 (~$2,278/mo).

• Succession risk is real: 31.1% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 58.8% 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 24,370 annual credentials.

Cape May County shows strong potential for scenic and sightseeing transportation attraction, with a 8.32x concentration and 70 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 31.1% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across scenic and sightseeing transportation, accommodation, and beverage and tobacco product manufacturing creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.