Dallas County, Missouri

• Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
• Below the state median: Median household income runs $17,238 (24.4%) under the Missouri median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 11.4% below the national average, so the nominal median of $53,464 is worth $60,343 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at metro level, not county level.
• Elevated poverty: At 20.5%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 19.3 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 42 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Retail Trade employs 553 workers (41.1% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $28,082. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 511 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $408M (2024).

• Top specialization: Nursing and Residential Care Facilities concentrates at 4.89x 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 42.9% 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.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.6x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 75.9% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Vacancy level: 11.1% of housing units are vacant, below the Missouri rate of 11.2%, and down from 19.2% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 30.9% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 8.9% of the vacant stock, or 1% of all housing units against the 11.1% 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: 2 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $32,337 can pay without cost burden (~$808/mo), and 25.4% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 25.7% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 48.5% labor force participation against a labor force that grew 4% between 2019 and 2024, so workforce development programs may unlock additional supply.
• Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Dallas County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.

Dallas County shows meaningful potential for nursing and residential care facilities attraction, with a 4.89x concentration and 278 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 25.7% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans nursing and residential care facilities, gasoline stations and fuel dealers, and sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and misc. retailers, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 42.9% of the employment across them, the largest being resident household spending. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.