Used plastic pallets in Kentucky

Where Kentucky's pallet work sits

Warehousing and storage in Kentucky employed 38,281 people at 430 sites in 2025, an average of 89.0 per site, by the BLS count of private employers.

• Boone County: 9,121 warehousing jobs, 24% of Kentucky and 0.48% of the country, 1.2 times Bullitt County.
• Bullitt County: 7,642 warehousing jobs, 20% of Kentucky and 0.40% of the country, 84% of the size of Boone County.
• Jefferson County: 6,859 warehousing jobs, 18% of Kentucky and 0.36% of the country, 75% of the size of Boone County.

Kentucky against the country

Each line is Kentucky's private-sector figure beside the national total, with the share it makes up and, where the data allows, its rank among the fifty states.

What the ratios say

The BLS withholds counties where a figure would identify one employer, which means the 3 counties shown for Kentucky understate what the state holds.

• The three largest warehousing counties hold 62% of Kentucky's jobs in the line.
• Size of site: 89.0 jobs in the typical Kentucky warehouse, more than the 81.5 found across the country (9 percent more).
• Food manufacturing employs 0.82 people for every warehousing job in Kentucky; across the US the ratio is 0.93.
• Kentucky holds 1.8% of the nation's food manufacturing jobs and 2.0% of its warehousing jobs, so food is the lighter of the two lines here.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing adds 2,045 jobs, 0.58% of the US total.
• Motor vehicle assembly accounts for 23,308 jobs in Kentucky, 8.1% of the US total, with another 32,261 in parts.
• Refrigerated space works out at 627 cubic feet for every warehousing job, against 2,098 nationally.
• The metro below accounts for 38% of the state's warehousing jobs, counting disclosed counties only.
• Boone County's 9,121 warehousing jobs are more than the whole state total of 14 other states, the largest being Nebraska at 8,246.
• New Mexico runs warehouses of nearly the same size, at 86.7 jobs per establishment against 89.0 here.
• For food manufacturing, Virginia is the closest match at 32,684 jobs, 1,411 above Kentucky's 31,273.
• The smallest county the BLS shows for Kentucky is Jefferson County with 6,859 jobs; the largest has 1.3 times as many.
• If warehousing jobs were split evenly across 50 states, each would hold 2.0% of the total; Kentucky holds 2.01%, which is 1.00 times an even share.
• Michigan sits above Kentucky with 2,472 more warehousing jobs, and Washington sits below with 1,590 fewer.

Where Kentucky ranks

Kentucky and the 16 states above it hold 75% of the country's 1,901,976 warehousing jobs between them. The median state has 23,211, so Kentucky is 15,071 jobs above it; California, the largest, has 236,923, or 6 times as many.

Industries that use pallets in Kentucky

The line that stands out in Kentucky is motor vehicle manufacturing, 6.3 times as concentrated as it is across the US. Automotive plants reuse pallets in a loop and load them heavily, so ask for static and dynamic ratings and for one maker.

• Motor vehicle manufacturing: 23,308 jobs in Kentucky, 8.1% of the 288,633 across the US, or 0.61 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Motor vehicle parts manufacturing: 32,261 jobs in Kentucky, 6.2% of the 521,212 across the US, or 0.84 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Beverage manufacturing: 10,105 jobs in Kentucky, 3.2% of the 316,938 across the US, or 0.26 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Plastics product manufacturing: 13,820 jobs in Kentucky, 2.4% of the 575,006 across the US, or 0.36 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Warehousing and storage: 38,281 jobs in Kentucky, 2.0% of the 1,901,976 across the US, or 1.00 for every warehousing job in the state.

The ladder around Kentucky

At 17th of 50 states by warehousing jobs, Kentucky has these neighbours in the ranking, two above and two below.

Metros we list in Kentucky

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

Training the dock crew

• Show new staff three pallets: one acceptable, one marginal, one rejected.
• Agree on words for faults, such as crack, gouge, bow and dish, and use them.
• Tell people to stop and ask when a pallet carries any mark they do not recognise.
• Remind drivers to enter pockets squarely, since angled entry splits the pocket wall.
• Walk the dock together once a month and compare notes.

What to put on a request from Kentucky

USDA counted 24 million cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse space in Kentucky on 1 October 2025, 28th among the states; ask the maker how a pallet behaves frozen.

• Ask for a uniform closed-loop lot in 48 x 45 in to match heavy-duty bulk containers
• Write the Kentucky ZIP where the lot will land
• Say how many pallet-loads, or whether you need a truck

Other states

• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Illinois
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• South Carolina
• Vermont
• Wyoming

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