Source: STATS Indiana and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

Anyone who’s been paying attention over the past several years has heard stories about the decline of manufacturing. Sometimes the information came through the news media, but all too often it was more personal, as when a neighbor or family member has lost a manufacturing job. Manufacturing used to be one of the key industries in Indianapolis, but everyone understands that the world is changing. So, after all those thousands of layoffs and plant closings, where does manufacturing stand today? 

Manufacturing still is the No. 1 industry in Indianapolis in terms of wages and benefits. Manufacturing alone provides $6.4 billion, or nearly 20 percent of all wages and benefits. The health care and social assistance industry is growing rapidly and may someday overtake manufacturing. But as of 2005, health and social assistance – with about the same number of workers as manufacturing – paid out just over half as much as manufacturing.

  
 


   
     
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