The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is a national leader in finance, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and retailing.
Medical devices, electronics and processed foods are strong suits recognized globally.
Want the freshest data delivered by email? Subscribe to our regional newsletters.
9/15/2023 9:00:00 AM
Tim O'Neill
The presence and importance of manufacturing to the Seven-County Metro Area's labor market and economy cannot be understated. In 2022, the Metro Area had over 4,000 Manufacturing establishments supplying nearly 175,000 covered jobs. As such, Manufacturing was the region's second largest-employing industry sector, accounting for one-in-ten jobs. Manufacturing employment in the Metro Area accounts for over half (53.9%) of Minnesota's total Manufacturing employment.
Manufacturing is also a high-paying industry. Across the Metro Area, the average annual wage for jobs in Manufacturing was just under $87,000. This was 13.1% higher than the average annual wage for the total of all industries. In other words, the typical manufacturing worker in the Metro Area earned about $10,100 more per year than the typical worker across all industries. Altogether, the total payroll for Manufacturing in the Metro Area was $15.2 billion in 2022. This accounted for 11.4% of the region's total payroll (Table 1).
| Table 1. Metro Area Manufacturing Industry Statistics, Annual 2022 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Number of Firms | Number of Jobs | Share of Area Jobs | Total Payroll ($1,000s) | Avg. Annual Wage |
| Minnesota | 8,548 | 323,730 | 11.3% | $24,910,538 | $76,908 |
| Metro Area | 4,054 | 174,558 | 10.1% | $15,191,233 | $86,996 |
| Hennepin Co. | 1,763 | 76,304 | 8.5% | $6,767,484 | $88,660 |
| Ramsey Co. | 656 | 28,254 | 8.8% | $2,688,014 | $95,108 |
| Anoka Co. | 591 | 23,413 | 18.1% | $1,989,990 | $84,968 |
| Dakota Co. | 474 | 19,320 | 10.4% | $1,538,339 | $79,612 |
| Washington Co. | 230 | 11,164 | 12.2% | $853,907 | $76,440 |
| Carver Co. | 161 | 9,833 | 24.3% | $823,401 | $83,720 |
| Scott Co. | 180 | 6,268 | 10.6% | $530,098 | $84,552 |
| Source: DEED Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages | |||||
As both a large-employing and high-paying industry, it's also important to note that Manufacturing employment in the Metro Area now exceeds pre-pandemic levels. Between 2019 and 2020, Manufacturing employment in the region declined by 4.0% (-6,889 jobs). Between 2020 and 2022, the industry expanded by 5.0% (+8,386 jobs). As such, Manufacturing in the region in 2022 was about 1,500 jobs above its 2019 level. For reference, total employment across all industries in the region was still down by about 47,700 jobs between 2019 and 2022 on an annual average basis (Figure 1).
With just over 76,300 Manufacturing jobs, Hennepin County accounts for 43.7% of the region's total Manufacturing employment. Ramsey County, with over 28,200 Manufacturing jobs, accounts for another 16.2% of the region's total Manufacturing employment. Together, three-in-five Metro Area Manufacturing jobs are located right in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
Manufacturing, however, is much more highly concentrated in Carver and Anoka counties. With over 23,400 jobs, Manufacturing makes up nearly one-fifth (18.1%) of Anoka County's total employment. Likewise, with more than 9,800 jobs, this industry makes up nearly one-fourth (24.3%) of Carver County's total employment. Manufacturing is also slightly more concentrated in Washington County than the state, where it makes up 12.2% of the county's total employment (Table 1).
Continuing to analyze industry data from the Department of Employment and Economic Development's (DEED) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), here are the top-employing Manufacturing subsectors for each county in the Metro Area:
Contact Tim O'Neill, Labor Market Analyst, at timothy.oneill@state.mn.us.
