Best Cities for Manufacturing
The methodology for the 2013 rankings for best cities for manufacturing jobs parallels that used for our 2013 Best Cities for Job Growth rankings. Instead of using Total Nonfarm Employment, the manufacturing rankings use employment in manufacturing (supersector 30) in the BLS MSA employment data. The manufacturing rankings include the 357 MSAs for which there are sectoral employment data for all 12 years used in our analysis.
Note: This page was updated June 6, 2013 to correct errors in the "2012 Mfg Employment" column.
| 2013 Mfg Rank - Midsized MSAs | Area | 2013 Weighted INDEX | 2012 Mfg Employment (000s) | 2012 Mfg Rank - Midsized MSAs | Mfg Size Ranking Change 2012-2013 |
| 1 | Mobile, AL | 92.3 | 18.5 | 4 | 3 |
| 2 | Savannah, GA | 86.2 | 15.6 | 24 | 22 |
| 3 | Lafayette, LA | 82.3 | 11.3 | 1 | (2) |
| 4 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 82.1 | 23.1 | 15 | 11 |
| 5 | Tulsa, OK | 80.1 | 50.4 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | Anchorage, AK | 79.2 | 2.2 | 57 | 51 |
| 7 | Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC | 78.5 | 23.7 | 2 | (5) |
| 8 | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | 77.1 | 23.1 | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Baton Rouge, LA | 75.6 | 27.1 | 30 | 21 |
| 10 | Roanoke, VA | 73.0 | 17.2 | 20 | 10 |
| 11 | Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | 72.8 | 66.0 | 10 | (1) |
| 12 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 71.8 | 19.5 | 14 | 2 |
| 13 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | 71.0 | 13.5 | 3 | (10) |
| 14 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | 69.4 | 21.7 | 6 | (8) |
| 15 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 68.9 | 24.6 | 25 | 10 |
| 16 | Toledo, OH | 68.5 | 41.7 | 39 | 23 |
| 17 | Boulder, CO | 68.2 | 16.6 | 24 | 7 |
| 18 | Gary, IN Metropolitan Division | 68.0 | 36.3 | 26 | 8 |
| 19 | Reading, PA | 66.5 | 29.8 | 28 | 9 |
| 20 | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 65.1 | 36.8 | 41 | 21 |
| 21 | El Paso, TX | 63.3 | 17.9 | 32 | 11 |
| 22 | Lincoln, NE | 63.2 | 13.4 | 35 | 13 |
| 23 | Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC | 63.0 | 38.7 | 11 | (12) |
| 24 | Framingham, MA NECTA Division | 62.7 | 24.8 | 7 | (17) |
| 25 | Montgomery, AL | 62.0 | 18.0 | 74 | 49 |
| 26 | Green Bay, WI | 61.8 | 28.4 | 27 | 1 |
| 27 | Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA | 61.8 | 12.0 | 38 | 11 |
| 28 | Trenton-Ewing, NJ | 61.4 | 8.7 | 40 | 12 |
| 29 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | 60.3 | 30.8 | 18 | (11) |
| 30 | Knoxville, TN | 59.5 | 32.2 | 22 | (8) |
| 31 | Columbia, SC | 58.0 | 28.1 | 9 | (22) |
| 32 | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 57.7 | 14.7 | 81 | 49 |
| 33 | Asheville, NC | 57.5 | 18.5 | 29 | (4) |
| 34 | Akron, OH | 57.1 | 40.2 | 19 | (15) |
| 35 | Fort Wayne, IN | 56.4 | 33.3 | 45 | 10 |
| 36 | Corpus Christi, TX | 56.0 | 9.8 | 36 | 0 |
| 37 | Canton-Massillon, OH | 55.8 | 26.4 | 13 | (24) |
| 38 | Evansville, IN-KY | 55.7 | 28.2 | 70 | 32 |
| 39 | Provo-Orem, UT | 55.0 | 17.3 | 16 | (23) |
| 40 | Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metr Div | 54.3 | 55.0 | 34 | (6) |
| 41 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 52.6 | 8.5 | 56 | 15 |
| 42 | Lansing-East Lansing, MI | 52.3 | 18.1 | 21 | (21) |
| 43 | Kansas City, KS | 51.6 | 33.8 | 17 | (26) |
| 44 | Peoria, IL | 50.3 | 28.0 | 12 | (32) |
| 45 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | 49.9 | 19.4 | 33 | (12) |
| 46 | Lancaster, PA | 49.6 | 36.1 | 66 | 20 |
| 47 | Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA | 47.8 | 30.5 | 42 | (5) |
| 48 | Greensboro-High Point, NC | 47.0 | 52.1 | 31 | (17) |
| 49 | North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL | 46.6 | 14.2 | 64 | 15 |
| 50 | Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | 46.4 | 20.2 | 54 | 4 |
| 51 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division | 46.0 | 18.8 | 61 | 10 |
| 52 | Dayton, OH | 46.0 | 41.0 | 46 | (6) |
| 53 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 45.9 | 19.8 | 72 | 19 |
| 54 | Springfield, MA-CT NECTA | 45.0 | 31.2 | 58 | 4 |
| 55 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 44.9 | 6.3 | 82 | 27 |
| 56 | Tucson, AZ | 42.7 | 23.2 | 52 | (4) |
| 57 | Lexington-Fayette, KY | 42.6 | 29.3 | 78 | 21 |
| 58 | Wichita, KS | 42.5 | 53.4 | 73 | 15 |
| 59 | Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY | 42.1 | 18.0 | 76 | 17 |
| 60 | Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME NECTA | 42.1 | 12.7 | 53 | (7) |
| 61 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 41.3 | 20.8 | 71 | 10 |
| 62 | Springfield, MO | 40.7 | 13.9 | 50 | (12) |
| 63 | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA | 39.9 | 27.0 | 69 | 6 |
| 64 | York-Hanover, PA | 39.4 | 31.5 | 55 | (9) |
| 65 | Jackson, MS | 39.3 | 16.5 | 75 | 10 |
| 66 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | 39.1 | 19.9 | 86 | 20 |
| 67 | Reno-Sparks, NV | 38.4 | 11.5 | 87 | 20 |
| 68 | Ann Arbor, MI | 37.2 | 14.1 | 62 | (6) |
| 69 | Colorado Springs, CO | 36.6 | 12.7 | 60 | (9) |
| 70 | New Haven, CT NECTA | 36.5 | 25.6 | 67 | (3) |
| 71 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT NECTA | 35.4 | 33.6 | 47 | (24) |
| 72 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 35.0 | 5.6 | 83 | 11 |
| 73 | Boise City-Nampa, ID | 34.9 | 23.9 | 63 | (10) |
| 74 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO | 34.9 | 26.9 | 80 | 6 |
| 75 | Madison, WI | 34.7 | 28.2 | 65 | (10) |
| 76 | Spokane, WA | 34.2 | 15.1 | 23 | (53) |
| 77 | Tacoma, WA Metropolitan Division | 33.7 | 16.8 | 43 | (34) |
| 78 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 32.9 | 4.5 | 51 | (27) |
| 79 | Winston-Salem, NC | 31.5 | 19.6 | 85 | 6 |
| 80 | Baltimore City, MD | 31.4 | 12.3 | 77 | (3) |
| 81 | Worcester, MA-CT NECTA | 30.7 | 23.8 | 37 | (44) |
| 82 | Fresno, CA | 26.2 | 22.4 | 44 | (38) |
| 83 | Syracuse, NY | 25.1 | 24.6 | 68 | (15) |
| 84 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 23.0 | 33.5 | 79 | (5) |
| 85 | Albuquerque, NM | 20.4 | 17.3 | 59 | (26) |
| 86 | Stockton, CA | 19.2 | 17.1 | 48 | (38) |
| 87 | Calvert-Charles-Prince George's, MD | 17.8 | 8.5 | 88 | 1 |
| 88 | Tallahassee, FL | 17.4 | 3.3 | 90 | 2 |
| 89 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 14.1 | 29.5 | 84 | (5) |
| 90 | Huntsville, AL | 11.2 | 22.1 | 91 | 1 |
| 91 | Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | 1.3 | 8.8 | 89 | (2) |
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