The Rust Belt is a colloquial term used to describe the geographic region stretching from New York through the Midwest that was once dominated by the coal industry, steel production, and manufacturing.
The Rust Belt became an industrial hub due to its proximity to the Great Lakes, canals, and rivers, which allowed companies to access raw materials and ship out finished products. The region received the name in the late s, after a sharp decline in industrial work left many factories abandoned and desolate, causing increased rust from exposure to the elements.
The term Rust Belt is often used in a derogatory sense to describe parts of the country that have seen a typically drastic economic decline. The Rust Belt region represents the deindustrialization of an area, which is often accompanied by fewer high-paying jobs and high poverty rates. The result has been a change in the urban landscape as the local population moves to other areas of the country in search of work.
Although there is no definitive boundary, the states that are considered in the Rust Belt—at least partly—are:. During its boom time, formerly prosperous manufacturing centers in Midwestern and Northeastern cities like Detroit, Toledo Ohio , Pittsburgh, and Buffalo produced heavy industrial materials and consumer products and developed storage and transportation systems to distribute them to the rest of the country.
The region experienced a sharp downturn in industrial activity from the increased cost of domestic labor, competition from overseas, technology advancements replacing workers, and the capital-intensive nature of manufacturing.
