Nevada County, California

• Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
• Below the state median: Median household income runs $9,240 (9.3%) under the California median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living erodes income: Local prices run 10.7% above the national average, so the nominal median of $89,882 is worth $81,194 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at state level, not county level.
• Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 5.8 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
• Aging population: Median age of 50 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 5,360 workers (21.3% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $60,240. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 6,675 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $6.2B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $100,010 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $35,528, a 2.8x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional Orgs concentrates at 4.28x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 12 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 38.6% of the employment across them, the largest being resident household spending. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.
• Attraction whitespace: 4 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 with at least 50 employed, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• Stretched market: Home value to income ratio of 6.9x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 75.5% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 21.1% of housing units are vacant, above the California rate of 7.5%, and down from 24.3% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 82.3% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 6.2% of the vacant stock, or 1.3% of all housing units against the 21.1% headline vacancy rate. Absorbable supply for an incoming employer is thin, and the gap between the two is the redevelopment and conversion opportunity.
• Affordable rent tiers: 2 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $56,184 can pay without cost burden (~$1,405/mo), and 51.4% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 27.9% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 53.6% labor force participation against a labor force that grew 0.8% between 2019 and 2024, so workforce development programs may unlock additional supply.

Nevada County shows meaningful potential for religious, grantmaking, civic, professional orgs attraction, with a 4.28x concentration and 1,283 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 27.9% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans religious, grantmaking, civic, professional orgs, construction of buildings, and amusement, gambling, and recreation industries, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 38.6% of the employment across them, the largest being resident household spending. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.