Jersey County, Illinois

• Income near the national median: Median household income tracks the national median, indicating a broad-based consumer market.
• Below the state median: Median household income runs $3,029 (3.6%) under the Illinois median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 4.9% below the national average, so the nominal median of $80,361 is worth $84,502 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at metro level, not county level.
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 13.1 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• 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: Retail Trade employs 786 workers (27.3% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $32,735. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 1,183 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $673M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Utilities averages $94,221 while Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation averages $14,175, a 6.6x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: General Merchandise Retailers concentrates at 3.92x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 40.2% 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.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.1x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 80.5% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 20% of housing units are vacant, above the Illinois rate of 7.7%, and up from 16.2% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 29.8% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 18% of the vacant stock, or 3.6% of all housing units against the 20% 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: 2 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $45,697 can pay without cost burden (~$1,142/mo), and 33.7% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 25.5% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 60.6% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: 1 institution in Jersey County awards 115 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.

Jersey County shows meaningful potential for general merchandise retailers attraction, with a 3.92x concentration and 389 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 25.5% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans general merchandise retailers, gasoline stations and fuel dealers, and nursing and residential care facilities, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 40.2% of the employment across them, the largest being resident household spending. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.