Economy

Indiana's service industries account for the state's leading economy activity. This group includes businesses, private health care, educational services, law firms, repair shops, finance, insurance, real estate, trade, restaurants, hotels, and government services such as public schools, hospitals, transportation and communication.

Manufacturing leads all other economic activities, providing more than one-fourth of the state's gross domestic product. Indiana's leading manufactured product is transportation equipment, including motor vehicle and aircraft parts. Motor vehicle assembly plants operate in several areas of the state, ranking Indiana among the top states producing automobile parts, trucks, bus bodies, truck trailers and motor homes. Other manufactured goods produced in Indiana include chemicals and pharmaceuticals, agricultural and industrial chemicals, and cleaning products, processed foods and beverages, fabricated metal products, computer and electronics products, medical supplies, plastics and rubber products.

Indiana ranks as the leading steel-making state, and it's also a leading center for aluminum production.

Mining and agriculture continue to play important roles in the economy, but contribute smaller amounts to Indiana's economy. The state has about 60,000 farms, with farmland covering about two-thirds of the state's land area. The most valuable farm products in the state are corn and soybeans. Farmers also grow hay and wheat. Among vegetables, grown in the state, tomatoes is the most valuable crop. Other vegetable crops include cucumbers, potatoes, beans, sweet corn, and popcorn. Leading fruit crops include apples, cantaloupes, and watermelons.

Much of Indiana's industry is concentrated in the Calumet region (an area that includes Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, and Whiting) and in Indianapolis. Other manufacturing centers include Fort Wayne, Evansville, Anderson, and South Bend. The Calumet region, with large steel mills and petroleum refineries, is one of the leading centers of heavy industry in the nation.

Indiana is one of the nation's top hog-producing states. Hogs normally account for the largest single share of the money received from the sale of livestock. Substantial numbers of beef cattle are also produced, as well as sheep and turkeys. Dairying is important near the major urban areas,making Indiana a leading state in egg production.

Indiana has only modest mineral resources. Bituminous coal, strip-mined in the southwest, is the chief mineral resource by value of production. Limestone for building use is quarried in large amounts in the Bedford-Bloomington region. Sand, gravel, clay, gypsum, and crude petroleum are also produced in the state.

All of the trunk railways extending eastward from Chicago and St. Louis pass through Indiana; a number of north-south trunk lines also extend through the state. Amtrak provides passenger service to a number of Indiana cities. Among the many expressways are seven Interstate highways.

Lake Michigan and the Ohio River provide Indiana with excellent inland water transportation. The Port of Indiana, at Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan, provides access to worldwide markets via the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Seaway system. Indianapolis' international airport is the largest and busiest commercial air facility in the state.