Used plastic pallets in Indiana

What the jobs data shows for Indiana

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts private employers in Indiana at 67,506 warehousing and storage jobs across 539 establishments in 2025, about 125.2 jobs per establishment.

• Boone County: 12,552 warehousing jobs, 19% of Indiana and 0.66% of the country, 1.1 times Hendricks County.
• Hendricks County: 11,774 warehousing jobs, 17% of Indiana and 0.62% of the country, 94% of the size of Boone County.
• Marion County: 7,943 warehousing jobs, 12% of Indiana and 0.42% of the country, 63% of the size of Boone County.

Indiana against the country

Indiana's figures sit on the left and the national totals beside them, so each share and rank shows how much of the country's pallet work lands here.

What the ratios say

Disclosure rules in the BLS data hide small counties, so the county totals for Indiana are a floor and not the whole of its 67,506 jobs.

• The three largest warehousing counties hold 48% of Indiana's jobs in the line.
• The average warehouse in Indiana employs 125.2 people where the national average is 81.5, a gap of 54 percent above it.
• Food manufacturing employs 0.69 people for every warehousing job in Indiana; across the US the ratio is 0.93.
• Indiana holds 2.6% of the nation's food manufacturing jobs and 3.5% of its warehousing jobs, so food is the lighter of the two lines here.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing adds 23,709 jobs, 6.8% of the US total, enough to make sanitisable pallets a real part of local demand.
• Motor vehicle assembly accounts for 21,069 jobs in Indiana, 7.3% of the US total, with another 52,146 in parts.
• Refrigerated space works out at 1,452 cubic feet for every warehousing job, against 2,098 nationally.
• The metro below accounts for 61% of the state's warehousing jobs, counting disclosed counties only.
• Boone County's 12,552 warehousing jobs are more than the whole state total of 15 other states, the largest being Delaware at 12,495.
• Maryland runs warehouses of nearly the same size, at 122.3 jobs per establishment against 125.2 here.
• For food manufacturing, Missouri is the closest match at 45,268 jobs, 1,206 below Indiana's 46,474.
• The smallest county the BLS shows for Indiana is Marion County with 7,943 jobs; the largest has 1.6 times as many.
• If warehousing jobs were split evenly across 50 states, each would hold 2.0% of the total; Indiana holds 3.55%, which is 1.77 times an even share.
• New Jersey sits above Indiana with 8,646 more warehousing jobs, and New York sits below with 12,135 fewer.

Where Indiana ranks

Indiana and the 8 states above it hold 55% of the country's 1,901,976 warehousing jobs between them. The median state has 23,211, so Indiana is 44,296 jobs above it; California, the largest, has 236,923, or 4 times as many.

The pallet-using lines in Indiana

By location quotient Indiana leans hardest on motor vehicle parts manufacturing (4.8x the national share). Automotive plants reuse pallets in a loop and load them heavily, so ask for static and dynamic ratings and for one maker.

• Motor vehicle parts manufacturing: 52,146 jobs in Indiana, 10% of the 521,212 across the US, or 0.77 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Motor vehicle manufacturing: 21,069 jobs in Indiana, 7.3% of the 288,633 across the US, or 0.31 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing: 23,709 jobs in Indiana, 6.8% of the 350,886 across the US, or 0.35 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Plastics product manufacturing: 33,122 jobs in Indiana, 5.8% of the 575,006 across the US, or 0.49 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Chemical manufacturing: 38,178 jobs in Indiana, 4.3% of the 892,426 across the US, or 0.57 for every warehousing job in the state.

The ladder around Indiana

States are ranked by warehousing and storage jobs. Indiana is 9th of 50; the table shows the two states above it and the two below.

Metros we list in Indiana

One metro in Indiana has a page with ZIPs, counties and corridors.

Planning around the seasons

• Cold months bring brittle resin, so handle gently and avoid sharp drops.
• Warm months soften decks, so shorten stacks and keep loads in shade.
• Harvest, holiday and promotion peaks use pallets faster, so order earlier.
• Wet seasons add weight in the ribs, so allow a drying day before indoor use.
• Plan returns and exports for the weeks when dock space is free.

What to put on a request from Indiana

USDA counted 98 million cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse space in Indiana on 1 October 2025, 13th among the states; ask the maker how a pallet behaves frozen.

• Start with the footprint: 48 x 45 in to match heavy-duty bulk containers
• Then the grade: a uniform closed-loop lot
• Give the receiving ZIP in Indiana
• Name a quantity band, a few pallet-loads up to a truck

Other states

• California
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Montana
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• South Carolina
• Virginia
• Washington
• Wyoming

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