The presence of such industry powerhouses as Polaris, Arctic Cat and New Flyer make Northwest Minnesota a hub of transportation equipment manufacturing.
From wheat and potatoes to soybeans and sugar beets, the region is a major producer and processor of food staples and specialty agricultural products.
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Northwest Minnesota’s manufacturing sector is strong and growing, with Wood Product Manufacturing providing high wages, steady demand, and accessible career pathways.
9/15/2026 1:32:47 PM
Anthony Schaffhauser
In celebration of Manufacturing Month, and as an extension of last month's blog about the Forestry industry, let's look deeper at Manufacturing in Northwest Minnesota. In sum, there were 805 Manufacturing establishments providing 28,785 jobs in 2025, making it the second largest employing industry in the region. Average annual wages were $68,380, which was nearly $13,000 higher than the average wage across all industries.
These manufacturers added more than 800 net new jobs over the past five years, a steady 2.9% expansion. At a more detailed level, the region has a large number of jobs in Food Manufacturing, Machinery Manufacturing, Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing, and /deed/data/data-tools/qcew/index.jspthe subsector that it is well-known for, Transportation Equipment Manufacturing. Each of those specialties offer higher-than-average wages and a wide range of career opportunities (see Table 1 and Figure 1).
| NAICS Code | NAICS Industry Title | 2025 Annual Data | 2020-2025 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Firms | Number of Jobs | Total Payroll | Average Annual Wages | Numeric Change | Percent Change | ||
| 000000 | Total, All Industries | 18,247 | 226,373 | $12,614,472,681 | $55,744 | +15,377 | +7.3% |
| 31 | Manufacturing | 805 | 28,785 | $1,969,045,419 | $68,380 | +817 | +2.9% |
| 311 | Food Manufacturing | 96 | 6,734 | $449,853,399 | $66,768 | +765 | +12.8% |
| 333 | Machinery Manufacturing | 91 | 4,142 | $338,687,069 | $81,744 | +333 | +8.7% |
| 332 | Fabricated Metal Product Mfg. | 156 | 3,853 | $242,762,707 | $63,024 | -82 | -2.1% |
| 336 | Transportation Equipment Mfg. | 25 | 3,676 | $241,669,763 | $65,676 | -172 | -4.5% |
| 321 | Wood Product Manufacturing | 71 | 3,199 | $243,824,528 | $76,232 | +28 | +0.9% |
| 323 | Printing & Related Support Activities | 56 | 1,360 | $63,977,191 | $47,008 | +288 | +26.9% |
| 327 | Nonmetallic Mineral Product Mfg. | 53 | 949 | $77,626,925 | $81,744 | +35 | +3.8% |
| 334 | Computer & Electronic Product Mfg. | 17 | 935 | $71,079,423 | $75,972 | -11 | -1.2% |
| 326 | Plastics & Rubber Products Mfg. | 33 | 914 | $54,610,595 | $59,696 | -39 | -4.1% |
| 337 | Furniture & Related Product Mfg. | 58 | 647 | $36,628,721 | $56,628 | +36 | +5.9% |
| 339 | Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 73 | 562 | $31,773,345 | $56,628 | -244 | -30.3% |
| 331 | Primary Metal Manufacturing | 6 | 475 | $32,549,120 | $68,640 | -95 | -16.7% |
| 325 | Chemical Manufacturing | 11 | 350 | $40,077,688 | $113,672 | -70 | -16.7% |
| 312 | Beverage & Tobacco Product Mfg. | 25 | 341 | $8,352,695 | $24,388 | +86 | +33.7% |
| 335 | Electrical Equipment Mfg. | 10 | 209 | $12,784,076 | $61,204 | +69 | +49.3% |
| 314 | Textile Product Mills | 16 | 178 | $7,218,046 | $40,716 | -170 | -48.9% |
| 315 | Apparel Manufacturing | 4 | 20 | $237,987 | $15,600 | +6 | +39.5% |
Source: DEED Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages
As written about last month, Northwest Minnesota also has a strong concentration of employment in Wood Product Manufacturing, which had about 3,200 jobs at 71 establishments in 2025. This includes Wood Window & Door Manufacturing, Furniture & Related Product Manufacturing, and Sawmills, Plywood & Engineered Wood Manufacturing. This subsector added almost 30 net new jobs over the past five years, and provides average wages of nearly $76,250 per year.
Demand for workers is steady in Wood Product Manufacturing. Career opportunities range from production workers like Assemblers & Fabricators, Woodworking Machine Setters, Sawing Machine Setters and Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers & Weighers to transportation and material moving workers including Forklift Drivers, Heavy & Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers and Machine Feeders, to repair and maintenance workers such as Industrial Machinery Mechanics, and to office workers including Sales Representatives, General & Operations Managers and Office Clerks. Most of these jobs can be started with a high school diploma and some level of on-the-job training (see Table 2).
Source: DEED Occupations in Demand
Job seekers who are looking for stable, high-paying careers that feed off Northwest Minnesota's competitive advantage in Forestry & Logging should explore the region's unique strength in Wood Product Manufacturing. Most of these jobs can be started with on-the-job training, and lead to median wages that are well above the regional average.
For more information about the importance of Manufacturing in Northwest Minnesota, contact Anthony Schaffhauser at Anthony.Schaffhauser@state.mn.us.
October is Manufacturing Month in Minnesota. You can find many Manufacturing Month resources, including information about career exploration and hiring events taking place throughout the month around the state at CareerForce's Manufacturing Industry page.
