Recently, the Metro Region Local Look has zoomed in on Dakota and Washington counties. This month, we turn north to Anoka County, one of the state’s fastest- and largest-growing counties.

With 6,724 establishments supplying 122,281 covered jobs, Anoka County is Minnesota’s fourth largest-employing county, trailing Hennepin, Ramsey, and Dakota counties. Over-the-year, between the second quarters of 2015 and 2016, Anoka County gained 2,280 jobs, growing by 1.9 percent. Comparatively, statewide employment grew by 1.2 percent. Within the metro area, only Scott and Washington counties had faster over-the-year growth. In terms of numeric growth, only Hennepin and Washington counties outpaced Anoka County.

While Health Care and Social Assistance and Retail Trade made up Anoka County’s largest-growing industries over-the-year, pay attention to the county’s manufacturing sector. As of the second quarter of 2016, Anoka County had 581 manufacturing establishments supplying nearly 23,000 jobs. As such, manufacturing provides about one in five jobs in the county. Statewide, manufacturing makes up about one in nine total jobs.

Fast Facts: Manufacturing and Anoka County

1. With 122,281 total jobs, Anoka County accounts for 7.2 percent of the metro region’s total employment.
2. With 22,959 jobs, Anoka County manufacturing makes up 13.6 percent of the metro’s total manufacturing employment.
3. Jobs in fabricated metal product manufacturing in Anoka County comprise 34.4 percent of the metro’s total fabricated metal product manufacturing employment. In fact, employment in this manufacturing sub-sector is about seven times more concentrated in Anoka County than it is in the United States overall.
4. Other highly concentrated manufacturing subsectors include: computer and electronic product manufacturing, miscellaneous manufacturing (largely medical supplies and equipment manufacturing), printing and related support activities, machinery manufacturing, and plastics and rubber products manufacturing.
5. Over-the-year, manufacturing added 345 jobs, growing by 1.5 percent in Anoka County. This was much faster growth than manufacturing at the state level, which grew 0.2 percent.
6. At $76,076, the average annual wage for manufacturing jobs in Anoka County is 53 percent higher than the average annual wage for the total of all jobs across all industries in the county.

For More Information

Contact Tim O'Neill at 651-259-7401 or email timothy.oneill@state.mn.us.