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Spotlight on Southern Minnesota Manufacturing and More

There's More to Manufacturing Jobs Than Production & Assembly

When people think of the jobs in the manufacturing industry, they typically focus on a short list of production occupations, such as assemblers or welders. That makes sense. Nearly 60 percent of all occupations in manufacturing are classified as production in Southwest Minnesota.

But that also means a little more than 40 percent - or 16,320 manufacturing jobs in the region- are not in production. These include a mix of well-paid occupations, ranging from sales and marketing to construction and other trades.

It Pays to Know the Industry

For most people, pay and benefits are driving factors when pursuing careers. With that in mind, it's good to know that some industries – particularly manufacturing – pay more for certain jobs than other industries pay for the same occupation.

For example, salespeople employed by manufacturers earn a median wage that is more than double the median wage for salespeople in all other industries. Construction and extraction occupations (such as electricians, plumbers, and sheet metal workers) also pay over 30 percent more in manufacturing than the median for all industries.

What’s more, the median wage for a variety of occupations is higher in manufacturing than the median for all industries in all but three occupational groups.

Average manufacturing wages are 23 percent higher than the average for all industries, and the median wage for all manufacturing occupations is 12 percent higher than the median for all occupations across every industry.

For the student, job seeker, or current employee looking for a career move, manufacturing not only offers a wide variety of jobs, but also has higher median pay in many cases.

Learn more about manufacturing in Southwest Minnesota here.

Southwest Manufacturing Video:
MRG Tool and Die

MRG Tool and Die talks about what they do and how manufacturing works.

Manufacturing Infographic:
Southwest Region

Manufacturing Infographic:
Southeast Region

Manufacturing Growth Returns in Southeast MN

It's been a turbulent few years for manufacturing in southeastern Minnesota, as two recessions in a decade alternately pounded and pummeled the industry and triggered substantial job losses during the economic downturns.

The good news: In the calm that followed the storms job growth in the manufacturing industries is returning, albeit at a slower pace than job growth the region has seen across all other industries.

Following the 2001 recession that affected all industries, manufacturing also saw a job decline in 2002. Things remained relatively flat for the next four years, while other industries started to grow.

During the more severe Great Recession in 2007, all industries including manufacturing saw significant drops all the way through 2010. Since then, the economy has started to see job gains again, although manufacturing has not seen the same level of growth as was seen across all industries.

That said, manufacturing remains an extremely important and vital industry in southeast Minnesota.

With 36,634 jobs at 665 firms, manufacturing accounts for 15.6 percent of total employment in the region. That's much more concentrated than in the state as a whole, where 11.4 percent of total jobs are in manufacturing.

Average weekly wages for manufacturing jobs were $1,027, which was more than 20 percent higher than the total of all industries. There are several jobs in the manufacturing industry that pay higher than the median hourly wage for all occupations ($17.07).

Southeast Minnesota has a wide variety of manufacturing employment, ranging from processed food to computer and electronic products to medical devices. One unique sector is motor vehicle parts manufacturing, which makes up about 2 percent of total manufacturing jobs in the region.

Learn more about manufacturing in Southeast Minnesota here.