Robots are working in manufacturing but their use is heavily concentrated in the Midwest and upper South, a Brookings Institution study found.
The robotic cluster is led by auto manufacturing that is heavily concentrated in those regions, currently accounting for more than half of the robotics in use. Just 10 Midwestern states house this share of the nation's 233,305 industrial robots.
Michigan leads the pack with about 28,000 robots, 12 percent of the nation's total. Ohio is next with 20,400 (8.7 percent). Indiana has 19,400 robots (8.3 percent) and Tennessee has roughly the same number.
The Western U.S. accounts for just 13 percent of the industrial bots.
Detroit, Toledo, Grand Rapids, Louisville and Nashville all have large concentrations of industrial robots. Metro Detroit has 8.5 robots per 1,000 workers.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.