The Rust Belt

The Rust Belt is a region of the United States, centered on the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic, that underwent substantial industrial decline in the late twentieth century; common definitions include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, with major cities such as Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Buffalo, and Baltimore. From the late 1800s through the mid-1900s the region was the industrial heartland of the United States, built on steel production, automobile manufacturing, and coal mining, with manufacturing's share of the national economy peaking in 1953 before declining steadily, especially after the late 1970s. The decline followed foreign steel competition from Germany and Japan, rising labor costs that pushed companies to relocate, the shift toward fuel-efficient imported cars driven by the 1973 oil crisis, and the opening of non-unionized foreign automaker plants in the United States. The name reflects the rust left by decaying, abandoned industrial infrastructure, population loss, and falling tax revenues, and the term is sometimes considered pejorative for the conditions it describes.