This Is the Largest Industry in Nebraska
Pick any two cities or towns in the United States, and each will be home to people who work in very similar fields. Certain occupations in areas like education, sanitation, law enforcement, health care, and retail are common across the country as they are practical necessities.
Still, the occupational makeup of different parts of the country varies in other important ways that are influenced by the regions’ history, geography, natural resources, local laws, and demographics. These factors can have considerable economic implications and lay the foundation of a given area’s industry composition.
In Nebraska, insurance carriers and related activities is the largest industry, accounting for 8.6% of the state’s total GDP of $130.0 billion. The industry’s annual economic output totals $11.1 billion, a 32.9% increase over the last five years.
Overall employment in the industry totals about 30,100, or 2.9% of all jobs in Nebraska. Among these workers, the average annual compensation is $72,765, compared to the average of $47,854 across all occupations in the state.
All data in this story on employment and output is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and is for 2019, the most recent year for which data is available. Data on wages is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With only a few exceptions, the largest industry in each state is real estate. As a result, we did not include the real estate sector in our analysis. We also excluded all government sectors.
Largest industryGDP of largest industry, ($, billions)Largest industry GDP as share of all industries (%)Employment in largest industryAverage annual compensation in largest industry ($)Alabama: Ambulatory health care services10.44.5100,03164,553Alaska: Pipeline transportation4.88.9N/AN/AArizona: Ambulatory health care services17.04.6172,43363,809Arkansas: Ambulatory health care services5.84.459,79664,186California: Computer and electronic product manufacturing110.33.5281,023185,714Colorado: Ambulatory health care services14.03.6139,99663,608Connecticut: Insurance23.08.061,923138,398Delaware: Monetary authorities13.617.67,29198,802Florida: Ambulatory health care services51.44.6521,56864,552Georgia: Monetary authorities32.35.27,56490,592Hawaii: Accommodation6.26.542,79352,973Idaho: Farms3.64.319,60837,642Illinois: Insurance45.75.2139,61199,628Indiana: Chemical manufacturing23.36.131,565120,876Iowa: Insurance18.59.552,04684,186Kansas: Rental and leasing services and lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets6.73.83,83554,411Kentucky: Motor vehicles, bodies and trailers, and parts manufacturing9.34.361,43166,973Louisiana: Petroleum and coal products manufacturing20.88.111,379136,816Maine: Hospitals3.34.833,55964,486Maryland: Ambulatory health care services15.83.7150,60966,638Massachusetts: Hospitals22.13.7198,54676,723Michigan: Motor vehicles, bodies and trailers, and parts manufacturing40.97.6181,24782,813Minnesota: Ambulatory health care services17.04.4156,05076,583Mississippi: Ambulatory health care services5.14.451,53559,647Missouri: Ambulatory health care services12.33.7120,333N/AMontana: Hospitals2.54.725,58365,511Nebraska: Insurance11.18.630,13772,765Nevada: Accommodation17.19.6189,49941,794New Hampshire: Insurance4.34.913,59992,107New Jersey: Ambulatory health care services27.24.3244,62564,942New Mexico: Oil and gas extraction7.57.24,372117,205New York: Monetary authorities174.19.897,155160,912North Carolina: Monetary authorities34.95.99,664108,240North Dakota: Support activities for mining3.45.916,486104,549Ohio: Monetary authorities32.14.632,14072,365Oklahoma: Oil and gas extraction17.78.716,279145,703Oregon: Computer and electronic product manufacturing16.16.338,576136,636Pennsylvania: Broadcasting and telecommunications37.24.635,03396,788Rhode Island: Insurance3.25.210,61286,263South Carolina: Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services9.94.0171,19335,086South Dakota: Monetary authorities8.215.053,79165,539Tennessee: Ambulatory health care services18.24.8155,99566,230Texas: Oil and gas extraction111.66.176,049207,903Utah: Monetary authorities11.15.84,17171,347Vermont: Ambulatory health care services1.64.817,27160,521Virginia: Computer systems design and related services28.65.1N/A125,773Washington: Publishing industries54.08.874,919246,039West Virginia: Mining4.35.414,25887,510Wisconsin: Insurance18.95.471,70978,377Wyoming: Mining3.79.27,83595,068
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