Economics — localized baseline
What Wood County, Ohio's economy actually is, quantitatively — the ground the data-center deal sits
on. Employment by industry for 2024 (BLS QCEW) with each sector's
location quotient (county share ÷ national share), and population (US Census
ACS). The employment and population figures are connector-sourced [verified], with each
sector's location quotient derived from them; the prose companion is
Economics — demand & public benefits.
Population
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 125,295 |
| 2015 | 128,885 |
| 2020 | 130,662 |
| 2023 | 131,795 |
Employment trend
| Year | Total covered employment |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 61,219 |
| 2015 | 63,202 |
| 2016 | 65,646 |
| 2017 | 66,704 |
| 2018 | 66,051 |
| 2019 | 67,860 |
| 2020 | 64,239 |
| 2021 | 66,989 |
| 2022 | 72,022 |
| 2023 | 74,864 |
| 2024 | 75,922 |
Total covered employment grew 24.0% (61,219 → 75,922) between 2014 and 2024 — the labor base the campus's ~50 promised jobs join.
Industry mix & export-orientation
Employment by NAICS sector, 2024, ranked by jobs. County-wide average annual pay is $56,557 (BLS QCEW, all ownerships) — the prevailing-wage yardstick the campus's ~50 promised jobs are measured against.
| Sector | Jobs | Establishments | Avg annual pay | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31-33 · Manufacturing | 14,485 | 200 | $70,869 | 2.32 · exports |
| 48-49 · Transportation & Warehousing | 11,569 | 177 | $44,040 | 3.60 · exports |
| 72 · Accommodation & Food Services | 7,087 | 328 | $19,781 | 1.03 |
| 44-45 · Retail Trade | 6,210 | 353 | $32,882 | 0.82 · imports |
| 62 · Health Care & Social Assistance | 6,168 | 307 | $56,466 | 0.57 · imports |
| 23 · Construction | 4,611 | 258 | $93,645 | 1.16 |
| 42 · Wholesale Trade | 3,333 | 228 | $72,528 | 1.11 |
| 81 · Other Services (except Public Administration) | 2,409 | 282 | $44,508 | 1.05 |
| 56 · Administrative & Support & Waste Management | 2,398 | 192 | $46,198 | 0.54 · imports |
| 54 · Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 1,868 | 337 | $72,729 | 0.35 · imports |
| 52 · Finance & Insurance | 1,173 | 199 | $74,768 | 0.38 · imports |
| 51 · Information | 1,108 | 82 | $70,677 | 0.78 · imports |
| 55 · Management of Companies & Enterprises | 804 | 32 | $173,941 | 0.63 · imports |
| 61 · Educational Services | 770 | 57 | $24,849 | 0.49 · imports |
| 53 · Real Estate & Rental & Leasing | 678 | 132 | $53,217 | 0.58 · imports |
| 71 · Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 536 | 55 | $20,585 | 0.42 · imports |
| 11 · Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting | 395 | 32 | $66,022 | 0.64 · imports |
| 22 · Utilities | 264 | 12 | $112,184 | 0.91 · imports |
| 21 · Mining, Quarrying, Oil & Gas Extraction | 78 | 6 | $86,631 | 0.27 · imports |
| 99 · Unclassified | 4 | 2 | $20,974 | 0.04 · imports |
Government employment — outside the private sector mix
The industry table above is private-ownership employment (BLS QCEW). Federal, state and local government carry no NAICS sector of their own, so they appear in no row above — yet the county total counts them. Federal civilian employment alone is 193 jobs at $69,789 average pay; at a federal enclave it is the county's single largest employer with no page of its own.
| Ownership | Jobs | Establishments | Avg annual pay | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Government | 193 | 28 | $69,789 | 0.13 · imports |
| State Government | 2,807 | 17 | $76,425 | 1.19 |
| Local Government | 6,974 | 159 | $53,803 | 0.98 · imports |
Private sectors (65,948) + government (9,974) reconcile to the 75,922 all-ownership total .
Consumer energy costs
What households in Ohio pay for electricity and heating fuel — the
consumer-price half of the demand thread the data-center load presses on. State-level EIA
residential prices and retail sales, each connector-sourced [verified], charted over
the last ~quarter-century (the natural-gas series reaches back to 1967, but the window is
trimmed for legibility). Prices are in native units — electricity in cents/kWh, gas in $/Mcf,
sales in million kWh.
Household energy burden
What that energy costs a typical household: the share of Ohio's
median household income ($73,124/yr, US Census
B19013) spent on residential electricity and heating. A fully [derived] figure —
annual spend = average household use × the EIA residential price — unlike the stylized
demand→price band. The gas and combined rows assume a gas-heated home at average use.
| Fuel | Annual cost | Burden (% of income) |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | $1,781 | 2.44% |
| Natural gas (heated home) | $970 | 1.33% |
| Combined | $2,750 | 3.76% |