Jobs & Economy in Racine
Racine's economy is genuinely, historically anchored by SC Johnson's global headquarters (roughly 2,000 Racine County employees) and a 175+ year Case/CNH Industrial manufacturing legacy -- though this record honestly discloses real, ongoing manufacturing decline alongside a genuine downtown revitalization and a real Microsoft data-center investment nearby.
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Learn moreSC Johnson's Global Headquarters Genuinely Anchors the Local Economy
SC Johnson's global headquarters -- roughly 2,000 employees in Racine County out of 13,000 worldwide across 70 countries -- occupies the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Administration Building (opened 1939), the only Wright-designed corporate headquarters still operational anywhere. This is a real, genuinely distinctive economic and architectural anchor found nowhere else in this project's dataset.
A Real, More Than 175-Year Manufacturing History -- With Honest, Disclosed Decline
Case (now CNH Industrial/Case IH) has built agricultural equipment in Racine for more than 175 years, but this record discloses the real decline honestly: local Case employment fell from more than 3,500 workers in the 1970s to an estimated 415 today, and Racine County lost approximately 1,000 jobs a year through the 1980s manufacturing downturn.
A Real, Current 2026 Layoff Disclosure
This decline is not purely historical: CNH Industrial announced plans in 2026 to lay off more than 200 additional Racine-area workers as part of a company-wide $150 million cost-cutting move shifting that work to Mexico -- a real, current, and disclosed setback this record does not omit.
A Genuine Downtown Revitalization Success Story
Set against that honest decline, downtown Racine's real revitalization is equally documented: more than $25 million in public and private investment converted a declining downtown into a 110-acre, 921-slip harbor/marina complex, drawing 50 new retailers and 100,000+ square feet of new office space by the early 1990s.
A Real, Substantial Microsoft Data-Center Investment Nearby in Mount Pleasant
Per wisconsinMarketManifest.js, the real Microsoft data-center campus in Mount Pleasant (the same Racine-County site originally promised to Foxconn in 2017, later scaled back and repurposed) is now a genuine, large-scale investment: the first facility is fully operational, a second $4 billion facility was announced, and Microsoft's total Wisconsin investment is projected to exceed $7 billion. This record discloses this as a Mount Pleasant/county-level fact, not sited within Racine city itself. Racine County's own unemployment rate ran approximately 3.3% as of May 2026.
Key takeaways
- SC Johnson's global headquarters (roughly 2,000 Racine County employees) genuinely anchors the local economy in the only operational Frank Lloyd Wright-designed corporate HQ anywhere.
- Case/CNH Industrial's 175+ year manufacturing legacy carries real, disclosed decline: local employment fell from 3,500+ (1970s) to approximately 415 today.
- CNH Industrial announced 200+ more Racine-area layoffs in 2026 as part of a company-wide $150 million cost-cutting move -- a real, current disclosure.
- Downtown Racine's real revitalization (a 110-acre, 921-slip harbor/marina, 50 new retailers) is an equally genuine success alongside the manufacturing decline.
- Mount Pleasant's real Microsoft data-center campus, projected to exceed $7 billion in total investment, is a genuine Racine-County economic story sited outside the city itself.
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