Which States Have the Most Food Manufacturing Jobs?
U.S. food manufacturing workers are concentrated in the American Heartland
Source: Trace One analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data
Although food manufacturing facilities operate in every state, the industry's workforce is most heavily concentrated across the American Heartland, where generations of agricultural production, abundant raw materials, and extensive rail and highway networks have made the region a natural hub for food processing. States in the Midwest and Great Plains consistently rank among the nation's leaders when food manufacturing employment is measured relative to the size of their overall workforce, underscoring the industry's outsized role in many local economies.
Nebraska leads the nation with 41.0 food manufacturing workers per 1,000 total employees, followed by Arkansas (39.7), Iowa (38.6), and Wisconsin (27.9). Kansas (26.4), South Dakota (23.6), Minnesota (16.3), Illinois (16.2), and Missouri (15.6) also rank among the states with the largest food manufacturing footprints, reinforcing the concentration of the industry throughout the Midwest and surrounding agricultural regions. When measured by total employment rather than workforce concentration, the picture shifts toward the nation's largest states. California employs the most food manufacturing workers (166,772), followed by Texas (111,619), Illinois (98,222), Pennsylvania (82,533), and Wisconsin (82,011).
Food manufacturing's economic importance becomes even more apparent at the local level, where a handful of communities are built around large processing facilities. Dodge City, Kansas, has the nation's highest concentration of food manufacturing employment, with 170.3 workers per 1,000 total employees, followed by Fort Morgan, Colorado (119.6), Hereford, Texas (114.0), and Le Mars, Iowa (111.3). These communities are home to major meatpacking, dairy, and agricultural processing operations, making food manufacturing a cornerstone of their local economies. By comparison, the nation's largest metropolitan areas tend to have more diversified labor markets, even when they employ tens of thousands of food manufacturing workers.
Among large metropolitan areas, Fresno, California, has the highest concentration of food manufacturing employment (13.9 workers per 1,000 employees), reflecting the San Joaquin Valley's role as one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. Grand Rapids, Michigan (11.5), Chicago (7.6), and Cincinnati (7.5) also rank among the nation's leading large metropolitan food manufacturing hubs, illustrating how access to agricultural production, skilled labor, and transportation infrastructure continues to shape where food manufacturers locate their operations.
Below is a breakdown of food manufacturing employment across the top and bottom states and large metropolitan areas. The analysis was conducted by Trace One using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. To view complete data, visit the original analysis—The U.S. Cities That Manufacture Your Grocery Staples—on Trace One. For more information refer to the Methodology section.
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