Export Focus of Manufacturing

The share of jobs in manufacturing companies dependent upon exports.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Trade has become an integral part of the U.S. and world economies. The combined total of U.S. exports and imports has increased from less than 5.5 percent of GDP in 1950, to 11 percent in 1970, to 25 percent in 1997. Moreover, the United States is increasingly specializing in more complex, higher value-added goods and services, which is reflected in the fact that the average weight of a dollar’s worth of American exports is less than half of what it was in 1970. That focus on higher value-added goods and services is benefitting many American workers. Workers employed in export-oriented firms earn 10 percent more than workers in similar firms that export less, or that don’t export at all.14 As a result, states whose companies are not global traders will be left behind, as will their workforces.

THE RANKINGS: There are three types of states with high rankings in the export orientation indicator: states such as Alaska and Idaho, which export processed natural resources (enduring old economy strengths); states such as Massachusetts, Texas, and California, which export high-tech equipment; and states such as Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Delaware, and West Virginia, which produce high value-added, durable manufactured goods or chemicals. Some states, such as Oregon, Washington, and New Hampshire, have high rankings because of both high-tech and natural resource exports. In contrast, states with low rankings tend to have more traditional manufacturing industries that compete directly with lower-wage nations, making it more difficult to export (as in Mississippi, Virginia, and Arkansas).

STATES BY RANK
Rank	State	Score
1	Alaska	49.3%
2	Washington	31.2%
3	Connecticut	24.2%
4	Texas	23.9%
5	Massachusetts	22.7%
6	Idaho	22.0%
7	New Hampshire	21.2%
8	Oregon	20.9%
9	Arizona	20.8%
10	California	20.5%
11	Michigan	20.4%
12	West Virginia	20.2%
13	Ohio	20.0%
14	Delaware	19.9%
15	Illinois	18.6%
16	Vermont	18.5%
17	Colorado	18.2%
18	Maine	18.1%
19	New York	18.0%
20	Minnesota	18.0%
21	Rhode Island	18.0%
22	South Carolina	18.0%
23	Indiana	17.8%
24	Pennsylvania	17.7%
25	Utah	17.7%
26	New Jersey	17.3%
27	Wisconsin	17.3%
28	Louisiana	17.0%
29	Kentucky	16.6%
30	South Dakota	16.5%
31	Oklahoma	16.0%
32	Tennessee	15.7%
33	Kansas	15.7%
34	Maryland	15.6%
35	Alabama	15.6%
36	Missouri	15.3%
37	North Carolina	15.2%
38	Nevada	15.2%
39	Iowa	14.9%
40	Georgia	14.8%
41	Arkansas	14.7%
42	New Mexico	14.5%
43	Wyoming	14.3%
44	Montana	14.1%
45	Hawaii	14.0%
46	Virginia	14.0%
47	Nebraska	13.7%
48	Mississippi	12.9%
49	North Dakota	12.2%
50	Florida	7.9%

	U.S. average	18.1%

ALPHABETICALLY
State	Rank	Score
Alabama	35	15.6%
Alaska	1	49.3%
Arizona	9	20.8%
Arkansas	41	14.7%
California	10	20.5%
Colorado	17	18.2%
Connecticut	3	24.2%
Delaware	14	19.9%
Florida	50	7.9%
Georgia	40	14.8%
Hawaii	45	14.0%
Idaho	6	22.0%
Illinois	15	18.6%
Indiana	23	17.8%
Iowa	39	14.9%
Kansas	33	15.7%
Kentucky	29	16.6%
Louisiana	28	17.0%
Maine	18	18.1%
Maryland	34	15.6%
Massachusetts	5	22.7%
Michigan	11	20.4%
Minnesota	20	18.0%
Mississippi	48	12.9%
Missouri	36	15.3%
Montana	44	14.1%
Nebraska	47	13.7%
Nevada	38	15.2%
New Hampshire	7	21.2%
New Jersey	26	17.3%
New Mexico	42	14.5%
New York	19	18.0%
North Carolina	37	15.2%
North Dakota	49	12.2%
Ohio	13	20.0%
Oklahoma	31	16.0%
Oregon	8	20.9%
Pennsylvania	24	17.7%
Rhode Island	21	18.0%
South Carolina	22	18.0%
South Dakota	30	16.5%
Tennessee	32	15.7%
Texas	4	23.9%
Utah	25	17.7%
Vermont	16	18.5%
Virginia	46	14.0%
Washington	2	31.2%
West Virginia	12	20.2%
Wisconsin	27	17.3%
Wyoming	43	14.3%

Source: U.S. Census, 1992 data.

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