Harding County, South Dakota

• 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 11.4% below the national average, so the nominal median of $80,441 is worth $90,791 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at state level, not county level.
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 5.3 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 46 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Construction employs 100 workers (65.8% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $62,865. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 113 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $91M (2024).

• Top specialization: Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers concentrates at 9.35x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.1x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 76.5% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 27.6% of housing units are vacant, above the South Dakota rate of 10.5%, and up from 24.1% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 55.8% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 7.7% of the vacant stock, or 2.1% of all housing units against the 27.6% headline vacancy rate. Absorbable supply for an incoming employer is thin, and the gap between the two is the redevelopment and conversion opportunity.
• Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes shown above sit below what a household on the median renter income of $62,311 can pay without cost burden (~$1,558/mo), and 3.4% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened; a cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.

• Succession risk is real: 30.4% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Strong participation: 75.2% labor force participation among working-age residents indicates an engaged, available workforce.
• Short commutes: 18.7-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
• Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Harding County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.

Harding County shows strong potential for gasoline stations and fuel dealers attraction, with a 9.35x concentration and 25 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 30.4% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.