Southwest Minnesota is a national leader in agricultural production, and renewable energy.
The region's thriving manufacturing sector includes food processing, machinery, printing, metal products, and computers and electronic products.
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Location Quotients are a measurement of an industry’s employment concentration in a region relative to that industry’s concentration in the state.
1/29/2026 11:24:15 AM
Amanda Blaschko, Luke Greiner
Electrical Equipment Manufacturing is Charged Up in Southwest Minnesota
/deed/data/data-tools/qcew/qcew-location-quotient.jspLocation Quotients are a measurement of an industry's employment concentration in a region relative to that industry's concentration in the state. A location quotient of 1.0 means that the region's employment concentration is equal to its statewide concentration, while anything greater than 1.0 means that there is a higher employment concentration. At 5.5, the industry with the highest location quotient in Southwest Minnesota was Electrical Equipment, Appliance and Component Manufacturing.
Through the second quarter of 2025, this included /deed/data/current-econ-highlights/qcew-econ-highlights.jsp18 establishments providing just over 2,150 jobs, an average of nearly 120 employees per establishment. With average annual wages of $78,260, it was one of the higher paying industries in the region, and after adding nearly 200 net new jobs from 2020 through 2025, it was one of the fastest growing subsectors as well.
At a more detailed level, the largest subsector was Electrical Equipment Manufacturing, which includes Motor and Generator Manufacturing, Relay and Industrial Control Manufacturing, and Power, Distribution and Specialty Transformer Manufacturing. In Southwest Minnesota, there were 11 establishments providing 1,372 jobs, after gaining nearly 100 jobs since 2020.
The occupations in highest demand in this industry includes:
These occupations offer a wide range of opportunity, requiring short-term on-the-job training through bachelor's or more advanced degrees, and everything in between. With this industry showing strong job growth in recent years, demand for workers is high across the board. Wages are also high, ranging from just over $20 per hour for Electromechanical Assemblers and Laborers & Freight Movers to more than $40 per hour for Engineers and Managers.
For more information about the importance of Electrical Equipment Manufacturing in Southwest Minnesota, contact Luke Greiner at Luke.Greiner@state.mn.us or Amanda Blaschko at Amanda.Blaschko@state.mn.us.
