St. Lucie County, Florida

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Below the state median: Median household income runs $3,111 (4.2%) under the Florida median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 9.0 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 45 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 15,050 workers (21.7% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $62,757. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 14,093 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $16.7B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $74,609 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $28,065, a 2.7x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Utilities concentrates at 2.87x the national norm.
• Cluster depth: 9 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 47% 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.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 4.9x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 78.6% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Vacancy level: 14.2% of housing units are vacant, below the Florida rate of 14.7%, and down from 19% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 67.7% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 17.5% of the vacant stock, or 2.5% of all housing units against the 14.2% headline vacancy rate. Absorbable supply for an incoming employer is thin, and the gap between the two is the redevelopment and conversion opportunity.
• Rent affordability gap: None of the 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $47,960 can pay without cost burden (~$1,199/mo), and 59.5% of renter households are already cost-burdened, 30.6% severely so; workforce housing cost burden warrants attention.

• Succession risk is real: 24.9% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 56% labor force participation against a labor force that grew 19% between 2019 and 2024, so workforce development programs may unlock additional supply.
• Talent pipeline: 4 institutions in St. Lucie County award 4,519 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.

St. Lucie County shows emerging potential for utilities attraction, with a 2.87x concentration and 1,012 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 24.9% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans utilities, wood product manufacturing, and motor vehicle and parts dealers, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 47% of the employment across them, the largest being resident household spending. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.