Wabasha County, Minnesota

• 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 $7,055 (7.9%) under the Minnesota median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 9.2% below the national average, so the nominal median of $82,007 is worth $90,316 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 9.2 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: Manufacturing employs 1,266 workers (34.8% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $61,810. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 1,167 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.1B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $74,998 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $17,254, a 4.3x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Animal Production and Aquaculture concentrates at 24.17x 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 29.1% 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: 3 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 3.2x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 83.3% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 11% of housing units are vacant, above the Minnesota rate of 9.3%, and down from 11.9% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 54.1% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 8.7% of the vacant stock, or 1% of all housing units against the 11% 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: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $41,453 can pay without cost burden (~$1,036/mo), and 32.6% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 27.9% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 65.4% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Wabasha County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.

Wabasha County shows strong potential for animal production and aquaculture attraction, with a 24.17x concentration and 263 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 27.9% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans animal production and aquaculture, support activities for agriculture and forestry, and gasoline stations and fuel dealers, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 29.1% of the employment across them, the largest being resident household spending. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.