Unicoi 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 14.3%, 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 14.4 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 47 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Manufacturing employs 1,611 workers (66% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $93,048.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $813M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Manufacturing averages $93,048 while Retail Trade averages $29,583, a 3.1x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing concentrates at 13.09x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 3 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
• Attraction whitespace: 4 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 3.6x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 72.9% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 10.9% 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 (~$1,305/mo).

• Succession risk is real: 26.3% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 55.9% 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.

Unicoi County shows strong potential for plastics and rubber products manufacturing attraction, with a 13.09x concentration and 285 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 26.3% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across plastics and rubber products manufacturing, , and food and beverage retailers creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.