Hood County, Texas

• Aging population: Median age of 46 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Retail Trade employs 3,084 workers (21.7% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $39,228.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $3.6B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction averages $94,768 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $22,517, a 4.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Support Activities for Mining concentrates at 10.65x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• 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: 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 3.5x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 81.2% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 12.2% 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.
• Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$2,204/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 27.3% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 58.3% 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 48,998 annual credentials.

Hood County shows strong potential for support activities for mining attraction, with a 10.65x concentration and 342 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 27.3% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across support activities for mining, textile product mills, and heavy and civil engineering construction creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.