Petroleum County, Montana

• 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 $12,301 (17.0%) under the Montana median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 5.4% below the national average, so the nominal median of $60,208 is worth $63,645 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at state level, not county level.
• Aging population: Median age of 52 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 5 workers, at an average wage of $10,151. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 58 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $23M (2024).

• Top specialization: Social Assistance concentrates at 3.37x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.3x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 72.9% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 28.9% of housing units are vacant, above the Montana rate of 13.2%, and down from 32.5% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 92.2% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 0% of the vacant stock, or 0% of all housing units against the 28.9% 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 $48,333 can pay without cost burden (~$1,208/mo), and 0% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 29.8% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 61.7% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Petroleum County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.

Petroleum County shows meaningful potential for social assistance attraction, with a 3.37x concentration and 5 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 29.8% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.