DeKalb County, Tennessee

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Elevated poverty: At 18.6%, 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 14.9 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 42 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Manufacturing employs 1,770 workers (51.6% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $61,914.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $883M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Information averages $85,389 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $20,302, a 4.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Transportation Equipment Manufacturing concentrates at 16.50x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• 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 4.4x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 72.6% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 14.8% 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: 4 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,329/mo).

• Succession risk is real: 25.6% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 57.6% 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 17,588 annual credentials.

DeKalb County shows strong potential for transportation equipment manufacturing attraction, with a 16.50x concentration and 941 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 25.6% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across transportation equipment manufacturing, machinery manufacturing, and creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.