The Geography of Manufacturing: All is Not Equal

"The importance of manufacturing to the economy is not uniform across the U.S."  -- U.S. Department of Commerce, January 2013

The U.S. Department of Commerce report "The Geographic Concentration of Manufacturing Across the United States" really tells the story of where manufacturing is, and where it's not.

The report understands that all development is local. It looks at the county-level data to tell the story about where manufacturing is having an impact and mapped it out.

"Counties where manufacturing accounts for a significant share of jobs and earnings. . .are concentrated in the Midwest and South."  Those counties with a higher percentage of manufacturing earnings and employment "are more likely to be outside metropolitan areas."

Site Selection magazine data has hit home that point in Ohio pretty well in the past.  In 2011, a whopping 94% of major manufacturing projects occurred outside of Ohio's largest, urban counties.  Expect similar numbers from 2012 as well.

So, what do we do with this knowledge?  More on that tomorrow.