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InContext

July-August 2003
Vol. 4, No. 4

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Commerce Region 10: South Central Indiana

Rachel Justis
IN Context Managing Editor, Indiana Business Research Center,
Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

The Area

Commerce Region 10 is comprised of nine counties in south central Indiana: Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Greene, Jackson, Jennings, Lawrence, Monroe and Owen. Prior to this year, Monroe County formed the Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was the region’s only metro area, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

However, the new definitions of metropolitan areas released by the OMB in June 2003 have changed the classifications so dramatically that every county in Region 10 is now part of either a metropolitan (metro) or micropolitan (micro) statistical area.

Bloomington and Columbus are primary cities of metros, while Bedford, Greensburg, North Vernon and Seymour each has its own micropolitan area (see Figure 1). Moreover, Brown and Bartholomew counties are also a part of the Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus combined statistical area.

Map

 

Figure 1

Region 10 had 401,264 residents in 2000, exceeding its 1990 population by 10.8 percent. This is roughly 1 percent more than the state’s overall growth. As the population center of the area, Monroe County had the greatest numeric growth (11,585), while Owen County had the greatest percent change (26.1 percent). The Census Bureau estimates that the area grew to 404,133 people by July 1, 2002—a growth of 0.7 percent.

Industrial Mix and Jobs

Major employers in the area include ArvinMeritor, Aisin USA, Cook Group, Cummins Engine, General Electric, GM Powertrain, Indiana University, Valeo Sylvania, Visteon and Wal-Mart Distribution Center.

By 2000, the services industry had the largest share of employment at 23.2 percent. Manufacturing closely followed this at 21.9 percent. However, manufacturing’s growth of 12.7 percent between 1990 and 2000 was far outpaced by the services industry’s 33.8 percent growth. The construction industry experienced the most growth, with a 36.8 percent change during the decade. Figure 2 shows which industry experienced the greatest percent change in each county.

Figure 2

Bloomington serves as the economic hub of the region, with Monroe County employing nearly 30 percent of the region’s labor force in 2002. Most of those working in Monroe County also resided there, with 4.2 percent of the region’s labor force commuting in from elsewhere (primarily from Lawrence, Greene and Owen counties). An additional 4.5 percent of the region’s labor force commuted into Commerce Region 7 (the nine-county Indianapolis area).

Income and Wages

Region 10’s per capita personal income for 2000 was $24,764, ranking it eighth among the 12 Commerce regions. This is roughly $2,000 lower than the state average of $26,933.

For the third quarter of 2002, average weekly wages for the area ranged from a high of $1,448 (management of companies and enterprises) to a low of $199 (accommodation and food services). Average regional wages were lower than Indiana’s wages in all but three sectors: management of companies and enterprises; educational services; and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting.

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Table 1

Additional data is available at: www.stats.indiana.edu/profiles/prcomm10.html.

 

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