When hearing the words “Iowa”, most people visualize farmers riding green tractors, plowing endless fields of corn and soybeans, and just another boring state in that vast uneventful and boring area between the two “important” civilizations of the nation.

Yet, most people don’t realize that this perception of Iowa is actually a HUGE misperception. Thus, I wanted to address this misperception and make everyone the wiser for it. So hold onto your seats because you are about to get some sweet economic insights!

All stereotypes and misperceptions’ seeds of origin stem from someplace. In Iowa’s case, its stereotype literally originated from seeds; corn and soybeans seeds that is (hence the name of this blog). Since the dawn of the first glacier plowing south, pushing the fertile soil….ok sorry, I digress, this is an economics blog! Let’s just agree that Iowa’s stereotype originated with its strong history in farming.

Although Iowa still has the best soil for growing crops in the world and the best farmers, its main industry in both Gross State Product (GSP) and employment is not what everyone thinks. In fact, looking at the numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Iowa generates over $9 Billion in agriculture-related GSP, a total not to take lightly. However, that $9 Billion is only 5.6% of Iowa’s total gross state product. So, you might be asking yourself, “Where does the remaining 94.4% of Iowa’s GSP come from?” Well, I’m glad you asked!

Breaking out the numbers, Iowa’s largest industry in terms of GSP is…wait for it….manufacturing!!

In fact, manufacturing contributes almost $30 Billion or 18% of Iowa’s total GSP, 3 times more than agriculture. Now, you might be asking yourself at this point, “Is this author crazy? Everything I hear about Iowa is, well, about agriculture.”

I’m not going to get into the arguments of how the state brands itself, but I will say that Iowa needs to wage a branding war immediately, not only to correct this misperception, but to attract and grow a labor force that is one of the slowest-growing in the nation. Now, back to the facts.

Not only does manufacturing contribute the largest amount of GSP, it also employs the most people of any industry. At the end of 2016, more than 16% of Iowa’s workforce (214,000 people) were directly employed in the manufacturing industry. The industry also has a HUGE multiplier of 2.65, which means that every 1 manufacturing job creates another 1.65 indirect jobs. This makes Iowa’s total manufacturing employment effect equal to 572,000 people or 44% of all employed people. Are you convinced yet that Iowa is more than just agriculture?

If not, then chew on some more facts.

Over the past 20 years, Iowa has become an insurance and financial hub. In 2016, $22 Billion or 14% of its GSP was derived from insurance and finance and more than 93,000 people or 7% of Iowa’s employed work in those fields. This makes Iowa 48% more concentrated in these industries when compared to the nation overall, meaning that Iowa specializes in this area. In fact, Iowa is more concentrated in finance and insurance than New York State! Additionally, Iowa’s largest city, Des Moines is almost 300% more concentrated in finance and insurance compared to the nation.

After hearing these amazing facts, can you honestly say that this sounds like Iowa? Absolutely not, but I hope by now all the stereotypes and misperceptions of Iowa being 100% agriculture are completely cleared. Well, if not, I guess I have more articles to write!

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