Editing Rust Belt (section)

{{short description|Region in the U.S. affected by industrial decline}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2016}}
{{Redirect|Steel Belt|the type of conveyor belt|Steel belt}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Bethlehem Steel (1).JPG|thumb|The now rusting steel stacks of [[Bethlehem Steel]] in [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]], one of the largest [[steel]] manufacturers for most of the 20th century until it abruptly discontinued most of its manufacturing in 1982, and later declared bankruptcy and dissolved]]
The '''Rust Belt''', formerly the '''Steel Belt''' or '''Factory Belt''', is an area of the [[United States]] that underwent substantial [[Deindustrialization|industrial decline]] in the late 20th century. The region is centered in the [[Great Lakes]] and [[Mid-Atlantic (United States)|Mid Atlantic]] regions of the [[United States]]. Common definitions of the Rust Belt include [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]], [[Northern Illinois]], southeastern [[Wisconsin]], [[Michigan]], [[Pennsylvania]], and [[Upstate New York]]. Some broader geographic definitions of the region include parts of [[Central Illinois]], [[Iowa]], [[Kentucky]], [[Maryland]], [[Minnesota]], [[Missouri]], [[New Jersey]], and [[West Virginia]]. The term "Rust Belt" is considered to be a pejorative by some people in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trubek |first=Anne |date=2018-04-03 |title=Our Collective Ignorance About the Rust Belt Is Getting Dangerous |url=https://time.com/5225497/rust-belt-history/ |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref>

Between the late 19th century and late 20th century, the Rust Belt formed the industrial heartland of the country, and its economies were largely based on [[Iron and steel industry in the United States|iron and steel]], [[Automotive industry in the United States|automobile production]], [[Coal mining in the United States|coal mining]], and the processing of [[Raw material|raw materials]]. The term "Rust Belt", derived from the substance [[rust]], refers to the socially corrosive effects of [[economic collapse|economic decline]], [[population decline|population loss]], and [[urban decay]] attributable to deindustrialization. The term gained popularity in the U.S. beginning in the 1980s,<ref name=":0">Crandall, Robert W. ''The Continuing Decline of Manufacturing in the Rust Belt''. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1993.</ref> when it was commonly contrasted with the [[Sun Belt]], whose economy was then thriving. 

The Rust Belt experienced industrial decline beginning in the 1950s and 1960s,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2014/competition-and-the-decline-of-the-rust-belt#:~:text=The%20Rust%20Belt%20was%20an,Belt%20began%20a%20long%20downturn | title=Competition and the Decline of the Rust Belt &#124; Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis | access-date=October 11, 2022 | archive-date=October 11, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011194907/https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2014/competition-and-the-decline-of-the-rust-belt#:~:text=The%20Rust%20Belt%20was%20an,Belt%20began%20a%20long%20downturn | url-status=live }}</ref> with manufacturing peaking as a percentage of [[Economy of the United States|U.S. GDP]] in 1953 and declining incrementally in subsequent years and especially in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Demand for coal declined as industry turned to [[Petroleum|oil]] and [[natural gas]], and U.S. steel was undercut by competition from [[Germany]] and [[Japan]]. High labor costs in the Rust Belt were also a factor in encouraging the region's heavy manufacturing companies to relocate to the Sun Belt or overseas or to discontinue entirely. The U.S. automotive industry also declined as consumers turned to fuel-efficient foreign-manufactured vehicles after the [[1973 oil crisis]] raised the cost of gasoline and foreign auto manufacturers began opening factories in the U.S., which were largely not [[Labor unions in the United States|strongly unionized]] like the U.S. auto manufacturers in the Rust Belt. Families moved away from Rust Belt communities, leaving cities with falling [[Tax revenue|tax revenues]], declining infrastructure, and abandoned buildings. Major Rust Belt cities include [[Baltimore]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Chicago]], [[Cincinnati]], [[Cleveland]], [[Detroit]], [[Milwaukee]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Pittsburgh]], [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]], and [[St. Louis]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thoughtco.com/rust-belt-industrial-heartland-of-the-united-states-1435759#:~:text=Bordering%20lands%20include%20parts%20of,Buffalo%2C%20Cleveland%2C%20and%20Detroit. | title=The Rust Belt is the Industrial Heartland of the United States | access-date=July 25, 2024 | archive-date=June 19, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619122705/https://www.thoughtco.com/rust-belt-industrial-heartland-of-the-united-states-1435759#:~:text=Bordering%20lands%20include%20parts%20of,Buffalo%2C%20Cleveland%2C%20and%20Detroit. | url-status=live }}</ref> [[New England]] was also hit hard by industrial decline, but cities closer to the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]], including in the metropolitan areas of [[Greater Boston|Boston]], [[New York metropolitan area|New York]], and [[Washington metropolitan area|Washington, D.C.]] were able to adapt by [[Economic diversity|diversifying]] or transforming their economies, shifting to  [[Service economy|services]], advanced manufacturing, and high-tech industries.<ref>David Koistinen, ''Confronting Decline: The Political Economy of Deindustrialization in Twentieth-Century New England'' (2013)</ref>

Since the 1980s, presidential candidates have devoted much of their time to the economic concerns of the Rust Belt region, which includes several populous [[swing state|swing states]], including Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These states were crucial to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Donald Trump]]'s victories in the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]] and [[2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential elections]] and the losses by [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] [[Hillary Clinton]] in 2016 and [[Kamala Harris]] in 2024.<ref name="Revolt of the Rust Belt">{{cite journal|title=The revolt of the Rust Belt: place and politics in the age of anger|journal=The British Journal of Sociology|volume=68|issue=S1|pages=S120–S152|author=Michael McQuarrie|date=November 8, 2017|doi=10.1111/1468-4446.12328|pmid=29114874|s2cid=26010609 |doi-access=free}}</ref>