Look down on poor people much? Just because they do more manufacturing they are automatically poor?
It's also not true. Most of these states are solidly in the middle of the pack for median income. MN is #13. WI is #23. Iowa #26. Not to mention the cost of living in these states is considerably lower than those with less manufacturing, so income isn't the only yardstick.
I didn't get that message from that comment. This list has a fair bit of rust belt and fair bit of sunbelt (historically relatively low wage rates + anti-union legislation). Those can be seen as two sides of the same coin: each undermining the power of organized labour in search of advantages in price competition.
Right-to-work laws made it attractive to owners to move plants there in past years, although I'm not sure that's still the case with so many states now having those laws. There was a large workforce available in the South once farming became mechanized. Lower taxes and cost of living for workers help, too. There are lots of textile and clothing manufacturers and car plants, and wood pulp plants. The Japanese built plants in some states to produce electronics, and there's a big energy production sector, too.
There are quite a few automobile assembly plants in the south, mostly German and Japanese makes. I remember seeing quite a few appliance assembly places too. None of these numbers though are overwhelming (13-14%) so it would be easy to miss unless you lived there.
After reading a few labour historians like Jefferson Cowie and Steven High, I thought most industry in the US moved south and to Mexico and beyond in the post 1960s/70s period for cheap wages, low taxes, and anti-union laws as Ander217 implicitly points out. But what surprised me as a non-Murican is that some rust belt states still have mfgering - what mfgering still happens there? From afar places like Detroit have the image of a de-industrialised ghost town as in The Wire. And why does Iowa have some mfgering? Is that mostly the meat industry (translation: 'meatpacking' in American) and other agriculturally based industries?
Just look at the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. those are your major modes of transportation across the country. Floating a boat is much cheaper and faster than driving 20 trucks.
Pennsylvania often feels like a manufacturing state, but it's only #18. There are a lot of parts of PA that are very Rust Belt-y, so I was a bit surprised at this, but I suppose the "Rust Belt" areas of Western PA are sparsely populated. The one major "Rust Belt" city in PA, Pittsburgh, has been a success story relative to cities like Detroit, as they've transitioned to embracing more white collar work like the tech and healthcare industries.
Detroit is only 17%.
It's also not true. Most of these states are solidly in the middle of the pack for median income. MN is #13. WI is #23. Iowa #26. Not to mention the cost of living in these states is considerably lower than those with less manufacturing, so income isn't the only yardstick.
The Wire is set in Baltimore.