Dukes County, Massachusetts

• Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
• Cost of living erodes income: Local prices run 5.8% above the national average, so the nominal median of $125,786 is worth $118,890 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 16.2 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
• Aging population: Median age of 51 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 1,390 workers (20.3% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $54,357. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 1,602 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $2.1B (2024).

• Top specialization: Private Households concentrates at 7.05x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 14 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 41.9% 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 9.3x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 82.1% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 57.4% of housing units are vacant, above the Massachusetts rate of 8.1%, and down from 62.2% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 94.7% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 1.9% of the vacant stock, or 1.1% of all housing units against the 57.4% 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 $47,351 can pay without cost burden (~$1,184/mo), and 36.2% of renter households are already cost-burdened, 9.2% severely so; workforce housing cost burden warrants attention.

• Succession risk is real: 30.5% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 67.3% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Dukes County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.

Dukes County shows strong potential for private households attraction, with a 7.05x concentration and 84 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 30.5% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans private households, clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers, and museums, historical sites, and similar, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 41.9% of the employment across them, the largest being resident household spending. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.