Walton County, Florida

• Income near the national median: Median household income tracks the national median, indicating a broad-based consumer market.
• Aging population: Median age of 44 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Accommodation and Food Services employs 8,395 workers (29.4% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $41,126. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 4,201 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $6.4B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Wholesale Trade averages $127,046 while Retail Trade averages $38,447, a 3.3x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Accommodation concentrates at 4.96x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 11 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 48.5% of the employment across them, the largest being visitor economy. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.
• Attraction whitespace: 3 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 5.2x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 78.6% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 43.9% of housing units are vacant, above the Florida rate of 14.7%, and down from 47.3% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 73.6% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 19.4% of the vacant stock, or 8.5% of all housing units against the 43.9% headline vacancy rate. That is the figure to plan an incoming employer's housing against, and the gap between the two is the redevelopment and conversion opportunity.
• Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $56,630 can pay without cost burden (~$1,416/mo), and 50.8% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 26.8% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 59.1% labor force participation against a labor force that grew 23.4% between 2019 and 2024, so workforce development programs may unlock additional supply.
• Talent pipeline: 1 institution in Walton County awards 118 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.

Walton County shows meaningful potential for accommodation attraction, with a 4.96x concentration and 2,231 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 26.8% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans accommodation, clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers, and real estate, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 48.5% of the employment across them, the largest being visitor economy. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.