U.S. Midwest Site Selector

The Site Selector offers an objective ranking of 331 U.S. cities based on criteria important to logistics professionals.

This customized listing looks at the top 50 cites and metropolitan areas located in the U.S. Midwest, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The Site Selector is based on material developed by Expansion Management and Logistics Today.

The Site Selector matrix provides an overall ranking of each city within the Southeast region, as well as an indication of the city's national ranking. Other ranking categories include:

Transportation and distribution (T&D) industry is based on businesses and employment base providing transportation, distribution, warehousing and related services.

Work force/labor is geared to existing and available logistics-related workers in the area.

Road infrastructure measures factors like available lane miles per capita, interstate highway access, miles of paved roads, etc.

Road density, congestion and safety ranks the city on traffic volumes and delays as well as accident statistics and other factors affecting the smooth flow of traffic.

Road condition draws on state performance and includes condition of highways and bridges, among other measures.

Interstate highway includes access to interstate highways, spending on highway construction and maintenance, etc.

Taxes and fees provides a measure of logistics-related costs, including highway and fuel taxes, inventory taxes (where present), etc.

Railroad offers a state-based rank of access to Class 1 and other rail services, miles of track, etc.

Waterborne commerce includes ocean port capacity as well as inland waterways.

Air cargo ranks the city on its access to cargo services, including widebody passenger service by combination carriers, international and expedited services.

2005 Regional Rank	2005 National Rank	Metropolitan Area	T&D Idustry Rank	Work Force/ Labor Rank	Road Infrastructure Rank	Road Density, Congestion & Safety Rank	Road Conditio Rank	Interstate Highway Rank	Taxes & Fees Rank	Railroad Rank	Waterborne Commerce Rank	Air Cargo Rank	2004 National Rank	2003 National Rank	2002 National Rank
1	1	Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, OH	18	97	118	97	123	10	147	11	17	38	4	16	13
2	2	St. Louis, MO	2	40	200	228	138	10	94	3	23	27	14	23	19
3	4	Chicago, IL	6	154	107	320	35	2	195	1	33	3	43	35	16
4	4	Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN	8	95	248	243	4	10	109	14	44	25	6	4	9
5	7	Kansas City, MO-Kansas City, KS	15	108	249	53	152	10	145	9	55	33	12	14	21
6	9	Detroit, MI	5	72	149	323	178	10	50	36	24	23	64	30	66
7	14	Louisville, KY	37	134	225	193	145	18	82	6	43	55	11	7	2
8	19	Toledo, OH	72	51	118	221	123	18	147	24	40	104	5	47	46
9	20	Cincinnati, OH	40	182	209	224	157	18	102	29	38	28	48	26	15
10	23	Indianapolis, IN	24	153	161	283	79	18	63	21	165	34	15	25	23
11	29	Gary, IN	44	3	161	320	79	10	63	2	22	274	51	50	45
12	34	Columbus, OH	36	132	118	244	123	32	147	24	165	37	16	48	49
13	42	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	24	43	229	314	65	32	314	79	56	44	92	115	98
14	43	Akron, OH	75	187	118	102	123	32	147	24	165	93	46	94	85
15	44	Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI	52	130	149	251	178	54	50	114	64	66	96	93	102
16	48	Youngstown-Warren, OH	80	76	118	112	123	54	147	5	165	167	81	105	106
17	53	Peoria-Pekin, IL	118	181	107	119	35	54	195	4	165	116	94	68	42
18	61	Evansville, IN-Henderson, KY	92	17	208	254	122	161	77	10	54	135	202	193	73
19	66	South Bend, IN	141	22	161	100	79	100	63	85	165	106	54	77	59
20	69	Omaha, NE	20	32	304	256	225	32	204	42	165	54	117	96	84
21	71	Davenport, IA-Moline-Rock Island, IL	108	250	160	72	118	32	186	43	165	103	91	53	30
22	73	Wichita, KS	100	143	253	34	48	54	310	55	165	78	34	56	63
23	79	Des Moines, IA	56	28	284	212	252	54	110	90	165	62	49	65	67
24	83	Springfield, MO	67	49	241	79	192	161	59	80	165	97	93	103	132
25	84	Rockford, IL	94	71	107	223	35	100	195	39	165	178	151	120	69
26	85	Fort Wayne, IN	49	15	161	325	79	161	63	85	165	115	107	132	112
27	88	Canton-Massillon, OH	125	27	118	106	123	161	147	18	165	179	67	118	114
28	91	Sioux Falls, SD	87	7	326	8	176	54	98	187	165	134	84	205	178
29	92	Duluth, MN-Superior, WI	183	295	241	142	45	100	214	32	11	144	73	106	100
30	93	Champaign-Urbana, IL	198	274	107	63	35	54	195	11	165	174	115	72	44
31	98	Dayton-Springfield, OH	81	171	118	200	123	54	147	212	165	73	25	66	83
32	108	Springfield, IL	228	118	107	163	35	100	195	18	165	189	158	136	80
33	109	Huntington-Ashland, WV	153	42	239	24	187	161	160	169	7	195	196	187	93
34	111	Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN	95	2	281	137	65	100	107	147	165	214	39	46	82
35	112	Bloomington-Normal, IL	218	203	107	71	35	54	195	18	165	259	111	117	74
36	114	Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, MI	147	220	149	158	178	100	50	114	165	125	179	134	109
37	115	Lexington, KY	122	206	264	144	188	100	96	116	165	91	105	102	47
38	119	Charleston, WV	148	152	227	111	214	54	271	82	165	121	264	264	284
39	126	Bismarck, ND	190	88	331	40	55	100	79	145	165	187	76	127	209
40	128	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	160	54	161	226	79	100	63	135	165	237	123	107	117
41	129	Lansing-East Lansing, MI	180	287	149	101	178	54	50	159	165	151	125	85	125
42	132	Madison, WI	124	141	229	172	65	100	314	174	165	77	148	162	152
43	133	Green Bay, Wis.	75	61	229	191	65	161	314	236	66	133	89	182	134
44	135	Sioux City, IA	137	9	300	63	246	100	187	82	165	222	142	116	92
45	140	Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI	150	245	149	237	178	100	50	159	165	124	181	153	195
46	141	Hamilton-Middletown, OH	132	101	118	259	123	161	147	24	165	274	170	184	240
47	143	Cedar Rapids, IA	143	251	284	199	252	161	110	22	165	102	184	144	143
48	145	Lima, OH	177	69	118	192	123	161	147	52	165	274	100	176	203
49	150	Flint, MI	203	317	149	159	178	54	50	200	165	117	195	129	173
50	151	St. Cloud, MN	110	1	251	254	1	161	92	230	165	205	79	54	71
Source: Based on material developed by Expansion Management and Logistics Today