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Missouri City Ranked Number 1 on List of “Best Places to Work in Manufacturing”

  • February 01, 2021

If you work in manufacturing, there’s no better place to live than St. Joseph, Missouri. That’s according to a study by SmartAsset. The study cited the city’s low unemployment rate in combination with its job growth and income growth rates as key factors in the ranking.

“St. Joseph has had a very strong manufacturing base for decades and many of our manufacturers have been able to grow, even in times of recession and the recent pandemic,” said R. Patt Lilly, President and CEO of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. “Quite a few of our manufacturers continue to recruit employees, that’s not something you see everywhere.”

The unemployment rate in St. Joseph in October was just 3.1 percent, reflecting the fact that jobs are fairly easy to find for job seekers. The study shows that nearly 24 percent of St. Joseph’s workforce is in manufacturing. St. Joseph recently had a one-year job growth rate of 8.3 percent and income growth of 5.6 percent, which helped St. Joseph rank at the top of the list.

“St. Joseph is also the third largest exporter in the state, only behind St. Louis and Kansas City,” said Lilly. “St. Joseph’s ability to manufacture and export products is widely known. What many people might not realize, which is reflected in this study, is that St. Joseph is a good place to live, especially if you work in the manufacturing field.”

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