This paper measured the attractiveness of municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (MG) for projects in the steel, cellulose and paper, furniture, energy and wood panel industry segments. A questionnaire was used to construct an index of attractiveness of the forestry sector for each municipality. As a result, it was found that 40% of the municipalities presented “average” or higher attractiveness. The mesoregions with the greatest potential for forestry development were the Metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, Southwest of Minas and Zona da Mata. The steel and cellulose and paper segments found attractive factors in 74.08% and 72.79% of the municipalities, respectively. It was concluded that the methodology applied showed how close a location was to meeting the characteristics of forest-based industries. It is expected to encourage future research and influence strategic planning for the expansion of the forestry sector across the country.