Lenoir County, North Carolina

• 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 $27,245 (37.6%) under the North Carolina median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 5.7% below the national average, so the nominal median of $45,143 is worth $47,872 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at state level, not county level.
• Elevated poverty: At 22%, 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 19.4 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: Manufacturing employs 8,017 workers (36.4% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $53,428. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 5,489 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $3.6B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $73,801 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $19,697, a 3.7x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction concentrates at 2.25x the national norm.
• Attraction whitespace: 3 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 with at least 50 employed, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• 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.
• Elevated vacancy: 13.1% of housing units are vacant, above the North Carolina rate of 12.5%, and down from 16.2% in 2019.
• Vacancy composition: the largest vacancy category is other vacant at 71.7% of vacant units, with seasonal and recreational use at 10.5%.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 12.8% of the vacant stock, or 1.7% of all housing units against the 13.1% 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 $33,070 can pay without cost burden (~$827/mo), and 40.7% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 25.2% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 56.3% labor force participation. The labor force itself fell 4.4% between 2019 and 2024, from 25,966 to 24,832.

Lenoir County shows emerging potential for heavy and civil engineering construction attraction, with a 2.25x concentration and 458 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 25.2% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.