Drive for 5 Industry Profiles

Updated reports that provide details on the Drive for 5 sectors including number of firms and jobs, wages, recent and projected growth trends, and workforce demographics.

Construction (Trades)
- With nearly 140,000 jobs at about 18,000 employer establishments, Construction is the 8th largest employing industry in Minnesota, and has the 4th largest number of establishments. With average annual wages of just under $80,000, wages are about $10,000 above the total of all industries, but are highest in subsectors like Heavy & Civil Engineering Construction and Nonresidential Building Construction.
Educational Services
- Despite losing jobs during the pandemic recession, Educational Services provides around 225,000 jobs at 5,000 establishments in Minnesota, making it the fourth largest employing industry in the state (behind Health Care & Social Assistance, Manufacturing, and Retail Trade). This includes about 150,000 jobs at Elementary & Secondary Schools, almost 60,000 jobs at postsecondary schools and training institutions, and another 16,500 jobs at other schools and educational support services. Coming in about $12,000 lower than the total of all industries, average wages are relatively low in Educational Services.
Health Care & Social Assistance (Caring Professions)
- With just under 500,000 jobs, Health Care & Social Assistance is easily the largest employing industry in the state, accounting for 17.3% of total jobs. Some subsectors are high wage, including Ambulatory Health Care Services ($85,609) and Hospitals ($79,802); while others are low wage, including Nursing & Residential Care Facilities ($39,999) and Social Assistance ($32,564). The Health Care & Social Assistance industry has the largest payroll of all industries in the state.
Information Technology
- At the occupational level, Minnesota is home to around 110,000 Information Technology (IT) workers. Sometimes confused for an industry, the IT field is actually better classified as a set of occupations. While focused more heavily in certain sectors, IT employment is spread across every industry, since every industry utilizes some amount of computer technology.
Manufacturing
- Until being passed by the Health Care industry in the early 2000’s, Manufacturing had been the largest employing industry in the state. With 323,365 jobs at 8,551 employer establishments, Manufacturing is still second largest, and has the second largest payroll. With average annual wages of $77,000, wages are about $7,000 above the total of all industries, but are highest in subsectors like Computer & Electronic Product Manufacturing, Chemical Manufacturing, and Petroleum & Coal Products Manufacturing.