A Diverse Labor Force

One of Dearborn County's many resources is its growing workforce, which has grown 14.5% since 1995. Dearborn's growth, combined with a growing working age population and a growing regional workforce, represents a stable labor resource for the county. The Cincinnati MSA's workforce has grown 9.7% since 1995, while Indiana's workforce grew by 1.9%.

Some attributes of the local workforce in 2000:
•  46.2% of the civilian labor force is comprised of females
•  40.8% have at least some college education
•  15.4% have a Bachelor's Degree or higher

Indiana is not a right to work state. Dearborn County's union membership is 11.0% for all workers, and 49.4% for manufacturing workers. In the last 11-12 years, union activity has been minimal in the county.

Currently, 4,000 residents from surrounding counties commute to Dearborn County for work. A potential labor resource for Dearborn County is commuting residents from nearby counties. Over 90,000 residents from surrounding counties commute to other surrounding counties (not including Dearborn) for work. These commuting employees are a potential labor resource for prospective companies.

Employment by Industry and Occupation

The majority of Dearborn County's employment (81.6%) is concentrated in service-providing industries. The largest shares in total employment by industry are:
•  Arts, entertainment and recreation (17.4%)
•  Retail Trade (13.5%)
•  Manufacturing (13.1%)

Dearborn County employment has expanded by 36.2% since 1995, with service-providing industries showing the most growth (54.9%). The Arts, entertainment and recreation industry is the largest contributor to county employment growth; this industry added 2,295 jobs to the county between 1995 and 2004.

A large proportion of Dearborn County's occupational employment is clustered in Management, professional, and related occupations, and in Sales and office occupations. Together these two groups comprise 51.7% of total occupational employment.