Top Employers in the Fayetteville Metro: Fort Liberty and Beyond

Fayetteville is a military town. There’s no getting around it. Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) is the largest military installation in the world by population, and it dominates the local economy in a way that no other single employer dominates any other metro I cover. Over 52,000 active-duty soldiers, plus 10,000+ civilian employees. That’s 62,000 jobs from one source. In a metro of about 530,000 people, the military isn’t just the top employer — it is the economy.

But Fayetteville is starting to diversify. And that’s what makes this market interesting to me as a buyer.

Fayetteville metro’s largest employers

Fort Liberty: understanding the military economy

Fort Liberty is home to the XVIII Airborne Corps, the 82nd Airborne Division, and U.S. Army Special Operations Command. It’s the most important special operations base in the country. The sheer scale of the installation creates commercial real estate demand that’s hard to overstate.

Think about 52,000 soldiers and their families. They need groceries, haircuts, car repairs, storage units, fast food, gyms, phone stores, and a hundred other daily services. That drives demand for retail and self-storage space along the Bragg Boulevard and Skibo Road corridors. Military families move every 2-3 years on average, which creates constant churn in the self-storage market. Every PCS (permanent change of station) cycle generates self-storage rentals — some families store belongings during deployments, others need space between housing assignments.

The civilian workforce — 10,000+ people in administration, logistics, maintenance, and defense contracting — provides more stable, long-term employment. Defense contractors like L3Harris, ManTech, and CACI operate offices near the base. These contractors need flex and office space, and they tend to sign multi-year leases tied to government contracts.

Healthcare and diversification efforts

Cape Fear Valley Health System is the largest private employer in Fayetteville at 6,000+ employees. It operates the main hospital plus several satellite facilities. Healthcare employment here is growing for the same reason it’s growing everywhere — aging population, expanded services, new outpatient facilities. Cape Fear Valley recently expanded its cancer center and emergency department.

Goodyear operates a tire manufacturing plant employing 2,500+ people. It’s one of the largest private manufacturing facilities in the region, and it generates demand for industrial and warehouse space from suppliers and logistics providers.

The most interesting new development is American Titanium Works, a titanium sponge manufacturing facility under construction. It’s projected to bring 500+ jobs in advanced manufacturing — a sector Fayetteville hasn’t traditionally had. Titanium is critical for aerospace and defense applications, so there’s a natural connection to Fort Liberty’s mission. This kind of diversification signals that the metro is working to reduce its dependence on a single military installation.

Cumberland County Schools employs another 7,000+ people. And the broader military-adjacent economy — car dealerships on Skibo Road, fast food along Bragg Boulevard, barber shops, pawn shops, cell phone stores — all of it exists because of the base. It’s not glamorous employment, but it fills commercial buildings and pays rent every month.

What this means for commercial property sellers

Look, Fayetteville’s economy is the military. That’s a strength and a vulnerability at the same time. The strength is that Fort Liberty is a critical national security asset that’s not going to be closed or downsized. The XVIII Airborne and Special Operations Command are too important. That gives the market a demand floor that most metros don’t have.

The vulnerability is concentration. If Congress ever cut military spending significantly (unlikely but possible), Fayetteville would feel it more than anywhere else. That’s why the diversification into healthcare and advanced manufacturing matters. As I covered in my article on Fayetteville infrastructure projects, the metro is investing in highway improvements and utility capacity to attract non-military employers.

For sellers, Fayetteville offers consistent demand driven by military rotation cycles. Self-storage and retail near the base corridors have reliable occupancy. Industrial buildings benefit from defense logistics. And the price point is lower than Charlotte or Raleigh, which attracts a different pool of buyers looking for yield over appreciation.

If you’re considering selling commercial property in Fayetteville, I’d like to hear about it. Call me at 704-600-3839 or visit rothcapital.com.