Lampasas County, Texas

• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 11.4 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 44 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Retail Trade employs 717 workers (31.2% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $43,019.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $766M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Wholesale Trade averages $85,254 while Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation averages $15,870, a 5.4x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Animal Production and Aquaculture concentrates at 3.58x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 7 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
• Attraction whitespace: 7 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 3.1x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 80.1% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 15% 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 (~$2,043/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 25.9% 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 48,998 annual credentials.

Lampasas County shows meaningful potential for animal production and aquaculture attraction, with a 3.58x concentration and 36 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 25.9% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across animal production and aquaculture, gasoline stations and fuel dealers, and specialty trade contractors creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.