Locational Factors in the Growth of Mobile Home Manufacturing in the Southeastern United States

LOCATIONAL FACTORS IN THE GROWTH OF MOBILE HOME MANUFACTURING IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES James O. Wheeler, Gale Callaghan, and Gordon Brewer* Since 1929, manufacturing has grown more rapidly in the southeastern United States than in the manufacturing belt of the Northeast. This growth has been due on the one hand to the Southeast ". . . becoming more self-sufficient in a wide range of industries," particularly those industries with rather high freight costs. (1) Secondly, industries with relatively low transportation costs, relying on local raw materials and cheap labor cost in the South, also achieved rapid growth by serving the national market as with the manufacture of textiles, apparel, and tobacco. (2) Although labor and materials continue to be important in the localization of Southern industry, the market has come to exert a powerful locational influence on manufacturing in the South, as it has nationally. Industries with high transportation costs on finished products have been encouraged to serve Southern markets by establishing branch plants in the region. Local entrepreneurs have also responded to market development, particularly in industries characterized by small scale operations and easy entry conditions. Cheap labor is no longer the primary locational factor responsible for industrial growth in the South. No industry in the Southeast better illustrates the rise of the market factor than does mobile home manufacturing in this region. Using U.S. Census definitions, the South Atlantic and South Central regions accounted for 26 percent of total mobile homes produced in 1961. This figure jumped to 42 percent in 1965 and to 50 percent in 1971. The nine producing states of the Southeast manufactured 29 percent of all mobile homes in 1965 and 36 percent in 1971 (Table 1). The number of plants in these states grew from 85 to over 280 during the same period. Even more notable has been the growth of markets. The nine southeastern states purchased over 64,000 mobile homes in 1965 and over 175,000 in 1971, compared to national totals for those years of over 220,000 and 500,000, respectively. Historically, mobile home manufacturing developed in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, taking advantage of the skilled workmen and capital facilities of the area's declining carriage industry. (3) Mobile home production gradually evolved from trailer and recreational vehicle manufacturing in the 1930's, and accessibility to automotive * Dr. Wheeler is professor of geography and Mr. Callaghan is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Georgia; Captain Brewer, United States Air Force, holds an M.A. from the University of Georgia. This paper was accepted for publication in July 1973. Vol. XIII, No. 2 93 components encouraged the industry's growth. After the end of World War II, mobile home manufacturers greatly accelerated production, in part a response to housing shortages. Yearly production grew irregularly until 1953, after which sustained and rapid growth has occurred. Prior to 1960, several clusters of manufacturers were scattered across the country. The largest was centered in Elkhart, Indiana, and significant clusters of plants were in Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles. Michigan and Pennsylvania had several plants, as did Florida in the Southeast. By 1971, considerable change had occurred in the location of mobile home manufacturing. Although Indiana continued as the leading producing state, Georgia was a close second, followed by Texas, California , Florida, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and North Carolina (Figure 1). TABLE 1 PRODUCTION OF MOBILE HOMES State or RegionNumber of Units Manufactured 19651971 Georgia25,30056,711 Florida13,40035,432 Alabama7,62029,470 North Carolina4,73026,090 South Carolina4,8506,660 Virginia1,7007,177 Mississippi1,4709,987 Tennessee2,0507,989 Kentucky3,6305,171 Southeast64,750184,687 National Total223,375507,220 Source: "The Southeast," Mobile and Recreational Housing Merchandiser, Special Report , December, 1971, p. 41; Mobile Home/Recreational Vehicle Dealer Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 20, 1972, pp. 92-98. Mobile home purchases in the United States often do not correspond with the national population distribution (Figure 2). Highly urbanized states of the northeast, such as New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maryland, have far fewer mobile home sales than expected on the basis of population. The primary reasons include higher than average median family income and urban zoning restrictions. Slightly lower than...