Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Ninth District Economy

The Ninth District stretches 1,800 miles from east to west. It covers 409,291 square miles and is home to about 8.8 million people. Although 12 percent of the nation's land is in the Ninth District, only 3 percent of the nation's population resides here.

The economy of the Ninth District is diverse:

• In the Rocky Mountains at the western end of the district, tourism, timber and metal mining are important industries.
  
  
• In the center of the district, wheat farming, ranching and energy mining dominate. Approximately 33 percent of the nation's wheat is produced here.
  
  
• The district's southeast corner is part of the Northern Corn Belt. In addition to corn and soybean farming, light manufacturing is a principal activity. Approximately 16 percent of the nation's corn is produced here.
  
  
• At the eastern end of the district is Minneapolis/St. Paul, the nation's 16th largest metropolitan area. It is an important education and high technology manufacturing center as well as the district's largest trade and service center.
  
  
• The far eastern end of the district is part of the Upper Great Lakes, where tourism, timber, dairy farming and metal mining are dominant industries. This region produces over 90 percent of the nation's iron ore.

The Ninth Federal Reserve District includes the states of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northwestern Wisconsin.

Michigan counties in the Ninth Federal Reserve District are Alger, Baraga, Chippewa, Delta, Dickinson, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Keweenaw, Luce, Mackinac, Marquette, Menominee, Ontonagon, Schoolcraft.

The Wisconsin counties in the Ninth District are Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Buffalo, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Florence, Forest, Iron, La Crosse, Lincoln, Oneida, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, St. Croix, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vilas, and Washburn.