by Cameron Macht
September 2015
From health care in Southeast Minnesota to manufacturing in Central Minnesota, each region of the state has a concentration of occupations that distinguishes it from other parts of the state.
Minnesota has a diverse and thriving economy, with employment spread across different industries, occupations and geographies. For planning purposes, the state is divided into six distinct regions, ranging from seven counties in both the Twin Cities and Northeast Minnesota to more than 20 counties in both Northwest and Southwest Minnesota (see Map).
About 62 percent of the jobs in the state, however, are located in the Twin Cities metro, meaning that many of the unique aspects of the state's economy outside the Interstate 494-694 loop get overshadowed by the outsized influence of the Twin Cities on Minnesota's overall employment statistics (see Figure 1).
Each region has a set of occupations that distinguish it from other parts of the state - occupations that are highly concentrated due to the unique structure of the regional economy. As the primary employment center, the Twin Cities has about 80 percent of the state's computer and mathematical, legal, and business and financial occupations.
Many of the distinguishing occupations in Greater Minnesota are well known. Southeast Minnesota is world renowned for its concentration of health care practitioners and support occupations, as well as life, physical and social sciences professionals. Central Minnesota has strengths in blue collar areas like production; transportation and material moving; installation, maintenance and repair; construction and extraction; and education, training and library jobs.
Southwest and Northwest Minnesota both stand out in the field of farming, along with production and education. Northeast, meanwhile, is notable for community and social services; natural resources-related occupations like forestry; construction and extraction; and installation, maintenance and repair (see Table 1).
| Top 5 Occupation Groups by Share of Statewide Employment by Region, 2015 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Minnesota Planning Region | Twin Cities Planning Region | ||||
| SOC Occupational Group Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Share of Statewide Jobs | SOC Occupational Group Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Share of Statewide Jobs |
| Total, All Occupations | 263,270 | 9.6% | Total, All Occupations | 1,691,650 | 62.0% |
| Production | 31,390 | 14.4% | Computer and Mathematical | 75,220 | 82.2% |
| Education, Training and Library | 21,450 | 13.7% | Legal | 14,710 | 80.3% |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 20,940 | 12.5% | Business and Financial Operations | 124,780 | 78.0% |
| Installation, Maintenance and Repair | 11,520 | 12.2% | Arts, Design, Entertainment and Media | 27,000 | 74.1% |
| Construction and Extraction | 10,980 | 12.0% | Architecture and Engineering | 37,380 | 73.3% |
| Northeast Minnesota Planning Region | Northwest Minnesota Planning Region | ||||
| SOC Occupational Group Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Share of Statewide Jobs | SOC Occupational Group Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Share of Statewide Jobs |
| Total, All Occupations | 141,800 | 5.2% | Total, All Occupations | 203,060 | 7.4% |
| Community and Social Services | 4,440 | 9.0% | Farming, Fishing and Forestry | 860 | 24.1% |
| Farming, Fishing and Forestry | 290 | 8.1% | Protective Service | 5,260 | 12.0% |
| Life, Physical and Social Science | 1,870 | 7.7% | Production | 24,650 | 11.3% |
| Installation, Maintenance and Repair | 7,060 | 7.5% | Education, Training and Library | 17,270 | 11.1% |
| Construction and Extraction | 6,360 | 7.0% | Community and Social Services | 5,010 | 10.2% |
| Southeast Minnesota Planning Region | Southwest Minnesota Planning Region | ||||
| SOC Occupational Group Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Share of Statewide Jobs | SOC Occupational Group Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Share of Statewide Jobs |
| Total, All Occupations | 253,990 | 9.3% | Total, All Occupations | 177,030 | 6.5% |
| Health Care Practitioners and Technical | 30,490 | 19.0% | Farming, Fishing and Forestry | 700 | 19.6% |
| Health Care Support | 13,660 | 15.3% | Production | 27,100 | 12.4% |
| Life, Physical and Social Science | 3,590 | 14.7% | Education, Training and Library | 17,280 | 11.1% |
| Production | 27,210 | 12.5% | Health Care Support | 8,010 | 9.0% |
| Computer and Mathematical | 9,220 | 10.1% | Transportation and Material Moving | 12,930 | 7.7% |
| Source: DEED Occupational Employment Statistics | |||||
The unique aspects of each region's economy become clearer at the occupation level using location quotients. Location quotients (LQs) are ratios that allow the region's distribution of employment to be compared with the state's distribution. If an LQ is equal to 1, then the occupation has the same share of total employment in the region as it does in the state. An LQ greater than 1 indicates an occupation with a greater share of the region's total employment than is the case in the state.
As noted above, production occupations are the most strongly concentrated in Central Minnesota, and that is reflected in the more detailed six-digit SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) codes as well. Eight of the region's top 10 LQs are concentrated in production occupations, including ophthalmic lab technicians working in the region's small optical lens manufacturing cluster; lathe and turning machine setters and painting and coating workers who serve the region's huge fabricated metal product, machinery and transportation equipment manufacturing industries; slaughterers and meat packers; and woodworking and sawing machine setters in the region's highly concentrated kitchen cabinet manufacturing sector. The highest LQ was for floor layers, serving the region's booming construction industry (see Table 2).
| Top 10 Highly Concentrated Occupations in Central Minnesota | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Occupational Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Median Hourly Wage | Location Quotient |
| Total, All Occupations | 263,270 | $16.66 | 1.0 |
| Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood and Hard Tiles | 30 | $17.58 | 5.2 |
| Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians | 580 | $13.00 | 4.7 |
| Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Metal and Plastic | 220 | $20.28 | 4.1 |
| Slaughterers and Meat Packers | 2,620 | $13.05 | 3.5 |
| Woodworking Machine Setters, Except Sawing | 510 | $14.07 | 3.3 |
| Sawing Machine Setters, Operators and Tenders, Wood | 320 | $16.41 | 3.1 |
| Painting, Coating and Decorating Workers | 150 | $14.61 | 3.0 |
| Etchers and Engravers | 40 | $18.41 | 3.0 |
| Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers | 820 | $35.96 | 2.9 |
| Coating, Painting and Spraying Machine Setters | 700 | $19.52 | 2.7 |
| Source: DEED Occupational Employment Statistics | |||
Northeast Minnesota's natural resources and amenities provide the backdrop for the region's distinguishing occupations, covering timber industry-related positions like logging equipment operators, foresters and furnace, kiln, oven, drier and kettle operators. Other distinguishing occupations include mining-related trades like explosives workers, mobile heavy equipment mechanics and tower equipment installers; as well as tourism-related positions like tour guides and escorts (see Table 3).
| Top 10 Highly Concentrated Occupations in Northeast Minnesota | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Occupational Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Median Hourly Wage | Location Quotient |
| Total, All Occupations | 141,800 | $16.58 | 1.0 |
| Logging Equipment Operators | 190 | $17.11 | 19.3 |
| Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier and Kettle Operators | 330 | $21.81 | 11.2 |
| Tour Guides and Escorts | 110 | $13.48 | 6.8 |
| Stonemasons | 20 | $24.31 | 6.4 |
| Foresters | 150 | $28.77 | 5.9 |
| Explosives Workers and Ordnance Handling Experts | 20 | $30.76 | 5.5 |
| Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines | 1,020 | $26.11 | 4.8 |
| Radio, Cellular and Tower Equipment Installers | 40 | $32.54 | 4.5 |
| Power Plant Operators | 180 | $31.05 | 4.2 |
| Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers | 420 | $21.81 | 3.9 |
| Source: DEED Occupational Employment Statistics | |||
Growing off the region's strong agriculture and related food manufacturing industry, four of the top 10 occupations with the highest location quotients in Northwest Minnesota are food roasting, baking and drying operators; livestock farm workers; agricultural product graders and sorters; and food cooking machine operators. The rest of the region's distinguishing occupations are mental health counselors, gaming workers, cementing and gluing machine operators, bailiffs, upholsterers and high school vocational education teachers (see Table 4).
| Top 10 Highly Concentrated Occupations in Northwest Minnesota | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Occupational Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Median Hourly Wage | Location Quotient |
| Total, All Occupations | 203,060 | $15.42 | 1.0 |
| Food Roasting, Baking and Drying Machine Operators | 170 | $18.92 | 7.9 |
| Farmworkers, Farm and Ranch Animals | 250 | $9.49 | 5.9 |
| Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products | 60 | $18.86 | 5.8 |
| Mental Health Counselors | 290 | $19.65 | 5.7 |
| Gaming and Sports Book Writers and Runners | 320 | $10.65 | 5.2 |
| Cementing and Gluing Machine Operators and Tenders | 180 | $14.36 | 4.9 |
| Bailiffs | 70 | $18.88 | 4.7 |
| Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders | 420 | $19.54 | 4.7 |
| Upholsterers | 110 | $15.24 | 4.5 |
| Vocational Education Teachers, Secondary School | 120 | $49,401 * | 4.0 |
| *OES publishes only annual wage data for teachers. | |||
| Source: DEED Occupational Employment Statistics | |||
Led by the Mayo Clinic in the Rochester metropolitan area, Southeast Minnesota is the only region with a health care-related occupation in its top 10. In fact, eight of its top 10 occupations are in that field, ranging from health care support workers to anesthesiologists. Many of these health care and life science occupations require postsecondary education and, in turn, earn healthy wages. The other two occupations were in production: food cooking machine operators and model makers (see Table 5).
| Top 10 Highly Concentrated Occupations in Southeast Minnesota | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Occupational Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Median Hourly Wage | Location Quotient |
| Total, All Occupations | 253,990 | $17.74 | 1.0 |
| Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders | 880 | $16.86 | 7.8 |
| Health Care Support Workers, All Other | 2,180 | $18.89 | 7.1 |
| Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists | 2,150 | $30.98 | 6.6 |
| Life Scientists, All Other | 440 | $29.44 | 6.4 |
| Biological Technicians | 600 | $35.15 | 6.1 |
| Medical Equipment Preparers | 710 | $17.62 | 6.1 |
| Nuclear Medicine Technologists | 150 | $41.68 | 6.0 |
| Model Makers, Metal and Plastic | 130 | $16.13 | 5.6 |
| Anesthesiologists | 530 | $85.23 | 5.5 |
| Health Technologists and Technicians, All Other | 900 | $31.00 | 5.5 |
| Source: DEED Occupational Employment Statistics | |||
Six of the top 10 occupations in Southwest Minnesota are related to agriculture in some way. They include agricultural equipment operators who plant and harvest crops, meat cutters and packers who process the region's livestock, agricultural inspectors who ensure quality food is being produced, purchasing agents who get products to and from markets, and wind turbine service technicians who help harvest the region's newest crop: wind power. The region's strong manufacturing sector also relies on the high concentration of coil winders, conveyor operators, and structural iron and steel workers. Interestingly, Southwest is the only region where the occupation with the highest location quotient is also the largest occupation in the region (see Table 6).
| Top 10 Highly Concentrated Occupations in Southwest Minnesota | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Occupational Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Median Hourly Wage | Location Quotient |
| Total, All Occupations | 177,030 | $15.48 | 1.0 |
| Slaughterers and Meat Packers | 6,010 | $13.66 | 11.9 |
| Coil Winders, Tapers and Finishers | 160 | $17.28 | 5.6 |
| Agricultural Equipment Operators | 240 | $14.36 | 5.5 |
| Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers | 720 | $11.44 | 5.3 |
| Purchasing Agents and Buyers, Farm Products | 100 | $30.64 | 5.1 |
| Agricultural Inspectors | 90 | $21.05 | 4.8 |
| Physics Teachers, Postsecondary | 50 | $54,813* | 4.5 |
| Conveyor Operators and Tenders | 260 | $14.79 | 4.4 |
| Structural Iron and Steel Workers | 200 | $18.61 | 4.3 |
| Wind Turbine Service Technicians | 60 | $23.28 | 4.2 |
| *OES publishes only annual wage data for teachers. | |||
| Source: DEED Occupational Employment Statistics | |||
While some of these occupations provide a relatively small number of jobs, they still can have a large impact on the region's economy. These distinguishing occupations have grown and flourished to serve each region's unique industry mix, while also setting each region apart.
