One of the most striking demographic and economic trends of the mid-1990s has been the comeback of the so-called Rust Belt — that swath of formerly smoke-shrouded Midwestern cities identified with big factories, big autos and big steel.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, when heavy manufacturing experienced major downturns in domestic and international markets, many metropolitan areas in the Rust Belt suffered high unemployment, expanding welfare rolls, rising crime, declining wage growth and net out-migration.

But, according to the Census Bureau’s State and Metropolitan Area Data Book: 1997-98, in the 1990s these trends either stopped or reversed direction. Experts disagree on the exact boundaries of the Rust Belt. For purposes of this brief, we focus on traditional centers of heavy industry in the Midwest.

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State and Metropolitan Area Data Book: 1997-98

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021

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