Union County, Kentucky

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Elevated poverty: At 18.4%, the rate is in distressed-county territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 22.6 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 952 workers (35.8% of the top displayed sectors), at an average wage of $58,065.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.1B (2024) with per-capita income of $54,276.
• Wage stratification: Wholesale Trade averages $83,792 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $17,537, a 4.8x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Crop Production concentrates at 4.49x 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.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 1.7x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 70.2% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 11.1% vacancy rate; potential opportunity for redevelopment or repositioning.
• Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,508/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 24.3% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Talent pipeline: 6 local institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 21,597 annual credentials.

Union County shows meaningful potential for crop production attraction, with a 4.49x concentration and 82 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 24.3% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

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

Community Data Widgets
That Actually Impress

Embed premium dashboards that make site selectors stop scrolling. 20+ federal sources. Dark, light, and brand themes. One script tag. Included with CRM or standalone.