Grayson County, Texas

• 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 $6,294 (8.0%) under the Texas median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 6.2% below the national average, so the nominal median of $72,182 is worth $76,953 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 11.8 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.

• Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 9,528 workers (23.2% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $67,862. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 8,118 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $8.4B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $88,864 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $23,170, a 3.8x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Food Manufacturing concentrates at 4.56x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 12 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 42.1% 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.
• Attraction whitespace: 3 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 with at least 50 employed, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.4x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• Elevated vacancy: 11.1% of housing units are vacant, above the Texas rate of 9.4%, and down from 13.4% in 2019.
• Vacancy composition: the largest vacancy category is other vacant at 59.6% of vacant units, with seasonal and recreational use at 21.3%.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 14.6% of the vacant stock, or 1.6% of all housing units against the 11.1% 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 $50,455 can pay without cost burden (~$1,261/mo), and 48.2% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 22.7% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 62.5% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: 3 institutions in Grayson County award 2,110 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.

Grayson County shows meaningful potential for food manufacturing attraction, with a 4.56x concentration and 2,726 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 22.7% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans food manufacturing, computer and electronic product manufacturing, and heavy and civil engineering construction, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 42.1% of the employment across them, the largest being goods manufacturing. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.