Stokes County, North Carolina

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 17.5 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 48 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest sector: Retail Trade employs 1,308 workers (22.9% of the top displayed sectors), at an average wage of $30,078.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.8B (2024) with per-capita income of $52,304.
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $60,870 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $18,897, a 3.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Printing and Related Support Activities concentrates at 3.84x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 9 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: 79.2% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.

• Succession risk is real: 27.2% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Strong participation: 79.1% labor force participation among working-age residents indicates an engaged, available workforce.
• Talent pipeline: 6 local institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 28,942 annual credentials.

Stokes County shows meaningful potential for printing and related support activities attraction, with a 3.84x concentration and 68 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 27.2% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across printing and related support activities, nursing and residential care facilities, and gasoline stations and fuel dealers 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.