Hickman County, Tennessee

• 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 $1,348 (1.9%) under the Tennessee median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 3.7% below the national average, so the nominal median of $68,247 is worth $70,869 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 21.8 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: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 585 workers (25.9% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $60,388. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 1,331 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $716M (2024).
• Wage stratification: Wholesale Trade averages $79,437 while Retail Trade averages $26,613, a 3.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers concentrates at 4.07x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 9 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 49.6% of the employment across them, the largest being construction and real estate cycle. 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 3.3x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 79.2% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 11.9% of housing units are vacant, above the Tennessee rate of 10.2%, and down from 17.7% in 2019.
• Vacancy composition: the largest vacancy category is other vacant at 73.6% of vacant units, with seasonal and recreational use at 12.9%.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 2.8% of the vacant stock, or 0.3% of all housing units against the 11.9% 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: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $43,654 can pay without cost burden (~$1,091/mo), and 34.5% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 22.6% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 57.1% labor force participation against a labor force that grew 13.5% between 2019 and 2024, so workforce development programs may unlock additional supply.
• Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Hickman County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.

Hickman County shows meaningful potential for gasoline stations and fuel dealers attraction, with a 4.07x concentration and 88 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 22.6% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans gasoline stations and fuel dealers, heavy and civil engineering construction, and specialty trade contractors, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 49.6% of the employment across them, the largest being construction and real estate cycle. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.