The Talented Dashboard
We have untapped talent in the Northeast Ohio Region. By continuing to strengthen education and training opportunities to support industries with in-demand jobs and increasing access to those jobs, we can build a more talented, vibrant economy.
What does it mean to have a talented, vibrant economy?
A vibrant economy has a growing, diverse population with opportunities for education, training, and prospects for filling good-paying, in-demand jobs for all in our region. These opportunities for individuals in turn support business growth and vibrancy in our communities.
How important is talent to a vibrant economy?
Talent is becoming the critical differentiator of regions that are growing and prospering. Increasing the pool of educated, trained, and talented workers in your region has a powerful economic impact. Growing the population with a Bachelor’s degree leads to significantly higher rates of growth in GDP, wages, and employment.
Talented Dashboard > In-Demand Jobs
NEO Progress
Northeast Ohio continues to have a large, abundant talent pool of 2 million workers, and we are becoming more educated. In-demand industries in the region include Healthcare, Manufacturing, and IT. These sectors have increasingly strong job openings year over year, contributing to the broader economy. However, credential completions have not kept up with job postings in these key sectors.
Regional Initiatives
Stark Career Connect is a community collaboration of job navigators focused on placing unemployed and underemployed job seekers in livable wage jobs. Utilizing shared, aggregated data allows the collaboration to create best practices that lead to better outcomes for job seekers and employers.
Tracked Metrics
This metric compares the number of students graduating programs for in-demand industries to the number of available job opportunities. A lower ratio (downward sloping trend) indicates a gap, or mismatch, of supply and demand of prepared graduates for that industry. Source: Lightcast; Team NEO Calculations (Degree completions/Unique job postings. Programs & occupations by sector can be provided at request)
Talented Dashboard > Education
NEO Progress
Northeast Ohio businesses continue to demand talent to support growth. Our increasing number of trained, qualified candidates is part of the region’s competitive advantage.
The regional population with higher education credentials is increasing, and graduation retention rates are also growing. Fifty-one percent of all 2022-2023 graduates, and 50% of Bachelor’s+ from Northeast Ohio institutions remained in the region.
Regional Initiatives
Baldwin Wallace University has been an active participant on the Talent Development Council since its inception. The Council facilitates personal connections to business and their evolving talent needs in real time. As a result of our engagement with the Council, BWU and Team NEO are working together to better market our programs that deliver the in-demand talent to regional businesses.
Tracked Metrics
A breakdown of the highest level of education attained by individuals aged 25 and older in a selected geography. (Source: Lightcast)
An award that normally requires at least 2 but less than 4 years of full-time equivalent college work. (Source: Lightcast)
Represents individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher, including master’s and doctorate degrees (Source: Lightcast)
Awarded for earning a high school diploma. (Source: Lightcast)
Attended some high school but did not receive a diploma. (Source: Lightcast)
Talented Dashboard > Population
NEO Progress
Long-term population changes, including declines in the size of our labor force and aging workers, can be offset by retaining and attracting more young talent.
The percentage of total population at 25–34 years old has increased from 12.7% to 12.9%, but the total population has remained largely stagnant at 3.6 million.
Regional Initiatives
The Cleveland Talent Alliance is a consortium of 14 non-profit, public, and private sector organizations collaborating to help the Cleveland region become one of the fastest growing and most diverse, inclusive and welcoming metro areas in the Midwest by 2030. Their goal is to retain 55% of graduates in the regional workforce by 2030 (up from a baseline of 48% in 2021) and have already seen progress since efforts began.
Tracked Metrics and Why They Matter
Measures the percent change in total population over time. Population data can track if a region is losing or gaining people and provide baseline metrics for talent attraction efforts. (Source: Lightcast)
Tracks the change in the number of 25-35-year-olds. This age group is a critical demographic to track, as older workers leave the workforce, younger workers are needed to replace them at the same or higher rate. (Source: Lightcast)
Explore more now.
Each pillar plays a critical role in shaping Northeast Ohio’s economy—but they don’t stand alone. See how talent and equity are connected, how innovation supports resilience, and how all four build competitiveness and prosperity.
Unlock the Data. Shape the Future.
With over 600 data points tracking talent, equity, innovation, resilience, competitiveness, and prosperity, the Vibrant Economy Indicators tool empowers business leaders, policymakers, educators, and economic developers to make informed, strategic decisions.
Want to review the data in detail? Fill out the form below and a member of the Team NEO research team will follow up to discuss how we can support your needs. Let’s work together to Bend the Curve for Northeast Ohio.
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Thank you for your interest in the Team NEO Vibrant Economy Indicators data. The economic data has been compiled and calculated by Team NEO. When sharing publicly, please reference: “Data sourced from Team NEO, www.TeamNEO.org, ©2025.”