In the Twentieth Century, this region used to be known as the manufacturing belt of the US. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, ending in northern Illinois, eastern Iowa, and southeastern Wisconsin.

The Rust belt stretches from west New York to the mid-west around the Great Lakes It includes: For example, in the UK, the 1980s also saw a declining manufacturing sector in north-east England, south Wales and parts of Scotland. Cities and regions affected tend to have: The rust belt is an area of mid-west US dominated by declining manufacturing industry.