Wayne County, West 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 $730 (1.2%) under the West Virginia median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 11.6% below the national average, so the nominal median of $58,878 is worth $66,604 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at metro level, not county level.
• Elevated poverty: At 14.6%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
• Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 16.5 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
• Aging population: Median age of 45 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Retail Trade employs 798 workers (22.8% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $29,022. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 3,205 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.3B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Information averages $86,178 while Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation averages $18,076, a 4.8x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers concentrates at 3.61x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
• Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 34.2% of the employment across them, the largest being health care economy. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.

• Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.2x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
• High home ownership: 78.6% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Vacancy level: 13.7% of housing units are vacant, below the West Virginia rate of 15.4%, and down from 21.9% in 2019.
• Vacancy composition: the largest vacancy category is other vacant at 73.1% of vacant units, with seasonal and recreational use at 2.6%.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 20% of the vacant stock, or 2.7% of all housing units against the 13.7% 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 $38,409 can pay without cost burden (~$960/mo), and 37.2% 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.
• Low participation: 50.8% labor force participation against a labor force that grew 12% between 2019 and 2024, so workforce development programs may unlock additional supply.
• Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Wayne County per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.

Wayne County shows meaningful potential for gasoline stations and fuel dealers attraction, with a 3.61x concentration and 148 jobs in this sub-sector. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 24.5% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans gasoline stations and fuel dealers, social assistance, and heavy and civil engineering construction, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 34.2% of the employment across them, the largest being health care economy. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.