Economics — localized baseline
What Van Wert County, Ohio's economy actually is, quantitatively — the ground the data-center deal sits
on. Employment by industry for 2023 (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 | 29,029 |
| 2015 | 28,576 |
| 2020 | 28,213 |
| 2023 | 28,824 |
Employment trend
| Year | Total covered employment |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 11,169 |
| 2023 | 11,586 |
Total covered employment grew 3.7% (11,169 → 11,586) between 2018 and 2023 — the labor base the campus's ~50 promised jobs join.
Industry mix & export-orientation
Employment by NAICS sector, 2023, ranked by jobs.
| Sector | Jobs | Establishments | Avg annual pay | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31-33 · Manufacturing | 3,061 | 45 | — | 3.14 · exports |
| 62 · Health Care & Social Assistance | 1,545 | 60 | — | 0.96 · imports |
| 44-45 · Retail Trade | 1,179 | 95 | — | 1.00 |
| 72 · Accommodation & Food Services | 869 | 57 | — | 0.82 · imports |
| 42 · Wholesale Trade | 864 | 32 | — | 1.87 · exports |
| 52 · Finance & Insurance | 701 | 34 | — | 1.47 · exports |
| 81 · Other Services (except Public Administration) | 398 | 56 | — | 1.15 |
| 56 · Administrative & Support & Waste Management | 279 | 26 | — | 0.39 · imports |
| 23 · Construction | 235 | 38 | — | 0.39 · imports |
| 48-49 · Transportation & Warehousing | 220 | 25 | — | 0.45 · imports |
| 11 · Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting | 149 | 22 | — | 1.57 · exports |
| 71 · Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 123 | 11 | — | 0.65 · imports |
| 22 · Utilities | 45 | 4 | — | 1.03 |
| 61 · Educational Services | 44 | 6 | — | 0.19 · imports |
| 53 · Real Estate & Rental & Leasing | 28 | 8 | — | 0.15 · imports |
| 51 · Information | 21 | 8 | — | 0.09 · imports |
| 21 · Mining, Quarrying, Oil & Gas Extraction | 14 | 3 | — | 0.32 · imports |
| 54 · Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 0 | 34 | — | 0.00 · imports |
| 55 · Management of Companies & Enterprises | 0 | 3 | — | 0.00 · 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 46 jobs at $61,493 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 | 46 | 11 | $61,493 | 0.21 · imports |
| State Government | 60 | 8 | $74,909 | 0.17 · imports |
| Local Government | 1,534 | 76 | $42,001 | 1.42 · exports |
Private sectors (9,775) + government (1,640) reconcile to the 11,586 all-ownership total — the 171-job residual is unclassified or suppressed private employment.
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.