San Juan County, Utah

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Elevated poverty: At 18.1%, 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 15.2 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Young population: Median age of 35 is materially below the U.S. norm, a workforce pipeline asset.

• Largest sector: Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction employs 408 workers (41.6% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $97,809.
• Wage stratification: Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction averages $97,809 while Retail Trade averages $26,165, a 3.7x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Mining (except Oil and Gas) concentrates at 38.96x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• 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: 5 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: 80.9% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 19.8% 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 (~$1,612/mo).

• Low participation: 59.1% 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 68,482 annual credentials.

San Juan County shows strong potential for mining (except oil and gas) attraction, with a 38.96x concentration and 225 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.

The interconnected base across mining (except oil and gas), oil and gas extraction, and accommodation creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.