Community colleges are an important and growing segment of the U.S. higher education market. However, few ex post studies of their local economic development impacts are available. This paper presents a quasi-experimental control group analysis of a group of twenty-one counties where community colleges were established during the 1970s and 1980s. It shows that community college counties have a stimulating effect on the state and local government employment sector. However, it does not confirm the existence of more widespread earning and employment impacts.