Used plastic pallets in Minnesota

Where Minnesota's pallet work sits

Warehousing and storage in Minnesota employed 17,921 people at 312 sites in 2025, an average of 57.4 per site, by the BLS count of private employers.

• Hennepin County: 3,616 warehousing jobs, 20% of Minnesota and 0.19% of the country, 3.2 times Anoka County.
• Anoka County: 1,119 warehousing jobs, 6.2% of Minnesota and 0.06% of the country, 31% of the size of Hennepin County.
• Washington County: 779 warehousing jobs, 4.3% of Minnesota and 0.04% of the country, 22% of the size of Hennepin County.

Minnesota against the country

Each line is Minnesota'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 Minnesota understate what the state holds.

• The three largest warehousing counties hold 31% of Minnesota's jobs in the line.
• Size of site: 57.4 jobs in the typical Minnesota warehouse, fewer than the 81.5 found across the country (30 percent fewer).
• Food manufacturing employs 2.67 people for every warehousing job in Minnesota; across the US the ratio is 0.93.
• Minnesota holds 2.7% of the nation's food manufacturing jobs and 0.94% of its warehousing jobs, so food is the heavier of the two lines here.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing adds 5,458 jobs, 1.6% of the US total.
• Refrigerated space works out at 5,859 cubic feet for every warehousing job, against 2,098 nationally.
• The metro below accounts for 37% of the state's warehousing jobs, counting disclosed counties only.
• Hennepin County's 3,616 warehousing jobs are more than the whole state total of 9 other states, the largest being New Hampshire at 3,283.
• Iowa runs warehouses of nearly the same size, at 58.7 jobs per establishment against 57.4 here.
• For food manufacturing, Indiana is the closest match at 46,474 jobs, 1,355 below Minnesota's 47,829.
• The smallest county the BLS shows for Minnesota is Washington County with 779 jobs; the largest has 4.6 times as many.
• If warehousing jobs were split evenly across 50 states, each would hold 2.0% of the total; Minnesota holds 0.94%, which is 0.47 times an even share.
• Oklahoma sits above Minnesota with 1,748 more warehousing jobs, and Oregon sits below with 1,171 fewer.

Where Minnesota ranks

Minnesota and the 30 states above it hold 94% of the country's 1,901,976 warehousing jobs between them. The median state has 23,211, so Minnesota is 5,289 jobs below it; California, the largest, has 236,923, or 13 times as many.

Industries that use pallets in Minnesota

The line that stands out in Minnesota is meat and poultry processing, 1.6 times as concentrated as it is across the US. Wash-down plants need clean, crack-free decks. Ask whether any pallet has been repaired, since a weld bead holds residue.

• Meat and poultry processing: 17,525 jobs in Minnesota, 3.1% of the 556,647 across the US, or 0.98 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Dairy product manufacturing: 5,085 jobs in Minnesota, 3.0% of the 168,222 across the US, or 0.28 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Fruit and vegetable preserving: 4,721 jobs in Minnesota, 2.7% of the 173,844 across the US, or 0.26 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Food manufacturing: 47,829 jobs in Minnesota, 2.7% of the 1,775,008 across the US, or 2.67 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Plastics product manufacturing: 14,511 jobs in Minnesota, 2.5% of the 575,006 across the US, or 0.81 for every warehousing job in the state.

The ladder around Minnesota

At 31st of 50 states by warehousing jobs, Minnesota has these neighbours in the ranking, two above and two below.

Metros we list in Minnesota

One metro in Minnesota 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 Minnesota

USDA counted 105 million cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse space in Minnesota on 1 October 2025, 11th among the states; ask the maker how a pallet behaves frozen.

• Ask for like new or used and clean in 48 x 40 in
• Write the Minnesota ZIP where the lot will land
• Say how many pallet-loads, or whether you need a truck

Other states

• California
• Idaho
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Maryland
• Mississippi
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• Rhode Island
• Texas
• Wyoming

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