Rockingham County, Virginia

• Income near the national median: Median household income tracks the national median, indicating a broad-based consumer market.
• Below the state median: Median household income runs $12,477 (13.4%) under the Virginia median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 5.1% below the national average, so the nominal median of $80,693 is worth $85,030 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 6.7 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.

• Largest private-sector industry: Manufacturing employs 6,372 workers (24.6% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $67,806. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 4,051 and is counted separately.
• Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $87,982 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $26,296, a 3.3x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Food Manufacturing concentrates at 9.94x 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 33.7% 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.

• In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.9x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 75.3% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 10.6% of housing units are vacant, above the Virginia rate of 8.7%, and down from 12.7% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 44.1% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 8.3% of the vacant stock, or 0.9% of all housing units against the 10.6% 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 $51,317 can pay without cost burden (~$1,283/mo), and 38.8% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

• Succession risk is real: 22.9% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Healthy participation: 63.6% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
• Talent pipeline: 1 institution in Rockingham County awards 369 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.

Rockingham County shows strong potential for food manufacturing attraction, with a 9.94x concentration and 4,089 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 22.9% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans food manufacturing, warehousing and storage, and animal production and aquaculture, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 33.7% of the employment across them, the largest being goods manufacturing. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.