The Most Profitable Industry in Each State

More than half of the states in the U.S. are driven by three leading industries: machinery, aerospace, and mineral resources. These findings, shown on a map created by HowMuch (click the link to zoom in), paint a picture of the products and technologies that fuel the country’s economic growth.

And according to HowMuch, a cost information website, the findings are “unnerving.”

“We read all the time about how diversification is the best guard against risk. And based on our map, the US economy is diverse in some regions but not very diverse in others,” HowMuch wrote in a post, noting that 27 states are led by the three aforementioned industries.

“That means that when certain segments undergo technological disruption or economic downturns, it can disproportionately impact sections of the country in ways people don’t expect.”

HowMuch used recent findings from GoBankingRates, which pulled 2017 data from the U.S. Census Bureau data, to create its map. Some of the findings were more predictable, like the fact that states in the Motor City region surrounding Detroit—Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana—get their biggest economic boost from car manufacturing. Others, like Kansas’s $2.6 billion aerospace industry, are perhaps more unexpected.

There is some overlap between the most lucrative industry in each state and the biggest export in each state, which was also mapped out by HowMuch. However, there are a few notable differences. At $20 billion, the most profitable industry in Nevada, for instance, is accommodation and food services (think Las Vegas), while its largest export is gold ($6.3 million).