Houston may know the secret to manufacturing job growth. Not only did the Texas location lead among all U.S. cities in the number of manufacturing jobs as of Jan. 1, but it actually grew the number of positions by 3.0% over the previous year. So, too, did New York, which ranked second and upped its manufacturing jobs by 1.3%, according to Manufacturers News Inc., a compiler and publisher of industrial directories, which generated the list as of Jan. 1, 2012.
The data reflect only jobs within city limits and do not include either suburbs or exurbs.
Overall, the identity of the top 10 cities did not change from a year ago, although there has been some jockeying around for position. St. Louis moved ahead of Los Angeles, for example, while Cincinnati nudged its way ahead of Dallas.
Among the top 10 locations, only Houston and New York gained manufacturing jobs over the past year.
The top 10 industrial cities, including the number of manufacturing jobs, are:
1. Houston 235,038
2. New York 140,952
3. Chicago 107,264
4. St. Louis 80,795
5. Los Angeles 79,873
6. Cincinnati 78,975
7. Dallas 75,924
8. Indianapolis 75,845
9. Phoenix 74,154
10. San Diego 70,483
The complete list of the 50 top locations is available here (PDF).
