Campbell County, Virginia

• 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 $27,005 (29.0%) under the Virginia median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 10.6% below the national average, so the nominal median of $66,165 is worth $74,010 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 9.6 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 44 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Manufacturing employs 4,738 workers (32% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $89,520. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 2,396 and is counted separately.
• Wage stratification: Manufacturing averages $89,520 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $20,700, a 4.3x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing concentrates at 15.36x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 9 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 49.8% 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 3.2x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 74.9% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 12.9% of housing units are vacant, above the Virginia rate of 8.7%, and up from 10.8% in 2019.
• Vacancy composition: the largest vacancy category is other vacant at 68% of vacant units, with seasonal and recreational use at 4.7%.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 17.7% of the vacant stock, or 2.3% of all housing units against the 12.9% 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 $52,438 can pay without cost burden (~$1,311/mo), and 30% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 24.5% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 60.7% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Campbell County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.

Campbell County shows strong potential for fabricated metal product manufacturing attraction, with a 15.36x concentration and 2,680 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 24.5% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans fabricated metal product manufacturing, forestry and logging, and wood product manufacturing, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 49.8% of the employment across them, the largest being goods manufacturing. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.