Lafayette County, Missouri

• Income near the national median: Median household income tracks the national median, indicating a broad-based consumer market.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 7.5% below the national average, so the nominal median of $80,612 is worth $87,148 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 9.5 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.

• Largest private-sector industry: Manufacturing employs 1,243 workers (25.4% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $52,187. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 2,108 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.2B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $100,086 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $19,360, a 5.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers concentrates at 6.41x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 27.4% of the employment across them, the largest being goods manufacturing. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.7x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 75.7% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 11.6% of housing units are vacant, above the Missouri rate of 11.2%, and down from 11.9% in 2019.
• Vacancy composition: the largest vacancy category is other vacant at 65.4% of vacant units, with seasonal and recreational use at 4.8%.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 18.1% of the vacant stock, or 2.1% of all housing units against the 11.6% 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 $46,985 can pay without cost burden (~$1,175/mo), and 37.4% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 24.4% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 62.8% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: 1 institution in Lafayette County awards 25 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.

Lafayette County shows strong potential for gasoline stations and fuel dealers attraction, with a 6.41x concentration and 335 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 24.4% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans gasoline stations and fuel dealers, crop production, and fabricated metal product manufacturing, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 27.4% of the employment across them, the largest being goods manufacturing. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.