Kent County, Maryland

• 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 $23,531 (22.7%) under the Maryland median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living erodes income: Local prices run 5.0% above the national average, so the nominal median of $80,147 is worth $76,330 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at state level, not county level.
• Aging population: Median age of 49 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Manufacturing employs 920 workers (16.4% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $65,601. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 1,098 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.2B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $88,935 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $26,291, a 3.4x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Animal Production and Aquaculture concentrates at 7.27x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 9 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 34.6% of the employment across them, the largest being education economy. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 4.1x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 72.5% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 18% of housing units are vacant, above the Maryland rate of 7.7%, and down from 24.9% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 50.2% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 13.8% of the vacant stock, or 2.5% of all housing units against the 18% 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: 1 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $43,741 can pay without cost burden (~$1,094/mo), and 51.2% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• 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.
• Healthy participation: 60.1% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: 1 institution in Kent County awards 292 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.

Kent County shows strong potential for animal production and aquaculture attraction, with a 7.27x concentration and 96 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 27.2% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans animal production and aquaculture, chemical manufacturing, and crop production, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 34.6% of the employment across them, the largest being education economy. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.