The Grand Rapids area is in the top 11% of the best places in the U.S. to work in manufacturing in 2020, according to a new report.
A study from SmartAsset compared 378 metro areas, and Grand Rapids-Wyoming was ranked the 42nd best place to work in manufacturing, or the 11.11th percentile.
Of the other Michigan cities in the top 50, Bay City ranked 17th, Niles-Benton Harbor ranked 28th and Saginaw ranked 45th.
Top 10 places to work in manufacturing
- St. Joseph, Missouri-Kansas
- Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana
- Hinesville, Georgia
- Decatur, Illinois
- Spartansburg, South Carolina
- Fon du Lac, Wisconsin
- Columbus, Indiana
- Rome, Georgia
- Appleton, Wisconsin
- Staunton-Waynesboro, Virginia
Methodology
Data in the report comes from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Metrics used included manufacturing as a percentage of the workforce; job and income growth between 2015 and 2018; job and income growth between 2017 and 2018; housing costs as a percentage of income; and October 2020 unemployment rates, to account for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.