150+ Electrical Equipment Manufacturing Statistics for 2026

What counts as electrical equipment manufacturing?

The federal definition is NAICS 335, Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing. It covers businesses that make products that generate, distribute, store, and use electrical power. The 2022 NAICS manual divides the sector into four industry groups: electric lighting equipment, household appliance manufacturing, electrical equipment manufacturing, and other electrical equipment and component manufacturing.

That definition matters. A switchgear plant belongs here, but an electric utility does not. A battery factory belongs here, while a semiconductor fab is classified in computer and electronic product manufacturing. Electric motors, generators, transformers, wiring devices, storage batteries, carbon and graphite products, and many household appliances all sit under the same three-digit code. This mix makes the sector a useful indicator of factory investment, grid construction, electrification, and durable-goods demand.

The state table uses employer establishments, not companies. One company can operate several establishments. Employment is the mid-March count in County Business Patterns, while annual payroll is reported in thousands of dollars. Census explains those concepts in its County Business Patterns methodology. Payroll divided by employment can describe payroll intensity, but it is not an official average wage and should not be presented as one.

State-by-state electrical equipment manufacturing data

California has the most published establishments at 792 and the most published employment at 32,568 workers. Wisconsin follows on employment with 24,385 workers, ahead of Ohio at 23,953 and Pennsylvania at 21,401. These are useful market-size signals, but suppliers should also look at plant concentration, subsector mix, and current capital projects before setting territories.

Hawaii and the District of Columbia do not appear in the published NAICS 335 state rows used here. Census disclosure rules can replace employment or payroll with flags when releasing a value could identify a business. Researchers combining this table with other datasets should retain those missing values instead of converting them to zero.

Where the largest manufacturing clusters are

California: breadth and scale

California's 792 establishments represent nearly 15 percent of all establishments in the published rows. Its $3.41 billion payroll is also the largest state figure in the table. The market is unusually broad, ranging from power electronics and lighting to batteries and controls. That breadth can support specialized service providers, but it also makes a single statewide message too vague. A supplier selling to battery operations faces a different buying group from one calling on residential lighting manufacturers.

Midwest: the deepest production belt

Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Michigan together account for 1,205 establishments and 100,627 employees in the source rows. Their combined published payroll is $6.86 billion. This belt connects electrical equipment production with machinery, automotive, fabricated metals, and industrial distribution. It is a natural territory for automation integrators, component suppliers, contract manufacturers, testing labs, and maintenance providers.

The Southeast: large plants and electrification investment

North Carolina reports 16,063 workers, Georgia reports 14,583, Tennessee reports 14,534, and South Carolina reports 13,357. Together, those four states have 58,537 published employees. Kentucky adds another 10,555. This footprint reflects longstanding appliance and electrical equipment operations alongside newer battery and power-system investment.

The four major subsectors

Electric lighting equipment

NAICS 3351 includes electric lamp bulbs, lighting fixtures, and parts. The official hierarchy is available in the Census NAICS search. LED adoption changed the economics of the category by increasing product life and shifting value toward controls, sensors, and connected systems. For market research, commercial, industrial, outdoor, and residential lighting should be separated because their specifications and sales channels differ.

Household appliances

NAICS 3352 covers small electrical appliances, major household appliances, and household laundry equipment, as shown by the Census industry definition. Appliance production is exposed to housing activity, consumer replacement cycles, steel and resin input costs, and retailer inventory decisions. A large employment count can therefore coexist with sharp swings in new orders.

Electrical equipment

NAICS 3353 includes power, distribution, and specialty transformers, motors and generators, switchgear, and relay and industrial control apparatus. See the official NAICS 3353 structure. This group is tied directly to grid upgrades, data centers, factories, renewable generation, and building construction. Long qualification cycles and engineered-to-order products make technical content and application support especially important in this market.

Other electrical equipment and components

NAICS 3359 includes storage batteries, primary batteries, communication and energy wire and cable, wiring devices, carbon and graphite products, and miscellaneous electrical equipment. The Census NAICS page shows the full group. Battery investment has made this the most visible part of the sector, but the category is much wider than electric vehicles.

Employment, pay, and the talent market

The published state rows contain 354,037 employees and $25.37 billion in annual payroll. Dividing those values produces roughly $71,653 in payroll per employee. That calculation includes more than base wages and does not adjust for full-time status, geography, or occupation, so it should be used only as a broad benchmark.

Production work is only part of the labor picture. Plants also employ electrical and mechanical engineers, industrial engineers, software and controls specialists, maintenance technicians, quality staff, logisticians, buyers, and sales engineers. The BLS industry occupation profile for NAICS 335 provides occupation-specific employment and wage estimates. For hiring plans, that profile is more precise than applying the sector payroll ratio to a particular job.

Workforce comparisons need a consistent reference period. County Business Patterns measures employment around the pay period containing March 12, while the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program generally reports a May reference period. The BLS OEWS questions and answers explain the program's timing and coverage. Mixing the two without labels can create apparent discrepancies that are simply methodological.

Production and capacity signals

The Federal Reserve tracks electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing inside its industrial production system. The G.17 Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization release is the best recurring federal source for changes in real output and factory operating rates. The index measures physical production rather than dollar sales, which helps separate volume changes from price inflation.

Capacity utilization deserves close attention in this sector. A plant running near its practical limit may extend lead times, add shifts, outsource subassemblies, or approve new machinery. A weak utilization reading can signal delayed projects or excess inventory. Neither outcome can be diagnosed from the national index alone. Buyers should compare it with supplier lead times, public project announcements, local hiring, and their own quotation data.

Monthly orders for durable goods provide another early signal. The Census Bureau's Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders survey reports new orders, shipments, unfilled orders, and inventories for durable-goods categories. It is useful for direction and timing, but the broader published categories do not always line up perfectly with NAICS 335. Treat it as a demand indicator, not a direct replacement for Economic Census or County Business Patterns totals.

Trade and supply-chain exposure

Electrical equipment supply chains cross borders repeatedly. Copper, aluminum, steel laminations, magnets, electronic controls, cells, and finished assemblies can each originate in different countries. The official Census Foreign Trade portal provides monthly import and export data, while USA Trade Online supports detailed commodity queries. Trade data are classified by Harmonized System commodity codes, not NAICS production codes, so a careful analysis needs a documented concordance.

The distinction prevents a common research mistake. NAICS classifies the primary activity of a US establishment. The Harmonized System classifies a product crossing the border. A motor manufacturer may import copper wire, electronic drives, bearings, and castings, none of which will appear as an imported “motor manufacturing establishment.” State export data can also identify the origin of movement rather than the exact location where every part was made.

For sourcing teams, the useful questions are narrower than the national trade balance. Which components have a single-country dependency? Which tariff codes cover the actual bill of materials? Where are lead times longest? What portion of spend can be dual-sourced without new certifications? Public trade totals start the investigation, but supplier-level mapping finishes it.

Demand drivers through 2026

Four markets are pulling on electrical equipment capacity at the same time: electric power infrastructure, data centers, factory construction, and transportation electrification. The US Energy Information Administration publishes power-sector investment and operating data through its electricity data portal. Census tracks construction spending through the Value of Construction Put in Place survey. Those sources provide better evidence than a generic claim that “electrification is booming.”

Data centers intensify demand for transformers, switchgear, backup power, busway, controls, and cooling-related electrical systems. Factory projects add many of the same products, plus motors and production controls. Grid projects compete for overlapping equipment and skilled labor. The practical result is uneven opportunity: some suppliers face packed order books and qualification bottlenecks while consumer-facing appliance categories can move on a different cycle.

Battery plants have also changed regional buying patterns. A new cell or pack operation brings demand for formation equipment, material handling, dry-room systems, quality inspection, fire protection, electrical distribution, and maintenance. Much of that spend occurs outside NAICS 335 even though the finished batteries are classified within it. Market sizing that counts only battery-plant revenue will miss the surrounding supplier ecosystem.

What the state numbers mean for sales teams

Employment is usually the strongest first-pass measure of a state's production footprint. Establishment count shows market fragmentation. Payroll adds another view of scale and job mix. California has both high employment and many establishments, while several Southeastern states have substantial employment spread across fewer sites. Those structures call for different account strategies.

A fragmented state can support a territory plan built around repeatable campaigns to many mid-sized operations. A state dominated by a few large plants needs account mapping, vendor-registration work, technical proof, and patience. The data won't tell you which plant is buying this quarter, but it helps prevent wasting equal effort across markets that are not equal.

Start with the state table, then move to six-digit NAICS codes, facility lists, project announcements, job postings, and permit activity. Confirm whether each location manufactures, distributes, engineers, or only sells. Company websites routinely group several activities together, and a mailing address alone does not establish a factory's role.

How to benchmark a state or sales territory

A useful territory benchmark starts with three ratios. Employment per establishment is a rough indicator of average site scale. Payroll per employee is a rough indicator of payroll intensity. Establishments per million residents show whether the sector has an unusually dense local footprint. None of these ratios proves that a market is attractive by itself. Together, they help a sales manager ask better questions before assigning travel, advertising, or account-development budgets.

Wisconsin is a good example. Its 24,385 employees work across 179 establishments, an average of about 136 employees per published establishment. California's 32,568 employees work across 792 establishments, about 41 per establishment. That does not mean every Wisconsin plant is larger, since an average can be distorted by a few major sites. It does suggest that a Wisconsin territory may contain a higher share of large production operations, while California offers a wider pool of smaller and specialized establishments.

Payroll intensity also varies. Massachusetts reports $944.8 million in payroll for 9,665 employees, which works out to about $97,755 per employee. Iowa reports $318.1 million for 6,022 employees, or about $52,827 per employee. Differences can reflect occupation mix, local pay levels, hours, bonuses, plant specialization, and data timing. They should trigger investigation, not a quick claim that one state's workers earn more for the same job.

When comparing territories, keep the denominator consistent. A five-state region can look large simply because it contains more people. Normalize establishment and employment counts by population, total manufacturing employment, or gross state product, depending on the business question. A component seller may care most about electrical-equipment employment. A recruiter may care about establishments and open jobs. A logistics provider may care about shipments and facility locations. The right benchmark changes with the service being sold.

How manufacturers and suppliers can use this dataset

Market selection

Rank states using the measure closest to your revenue model. If a service is sold per facility, establishment count is usually the sensible starting point. If revenue rises with headcount, maintenance activity, or production volume, employment may be more useful. If you sell to large capital projects, neither measure is enough. Add construction spending, incentive awards, permit records, and announced investment before choosing a market.

Account scoring

Build a facility list inside the selected states and score each account on fit, timing, and access. Fit covers process, size, certifications, and installed equipment. Timing covers expansions, hiring, leadership changes, maintenance outages, and new product launches. Access covers known contacts, channel relationships, and whether the plant accepts new vendors. State-level statistics improve the top of the funnel, but account evidence determines priority.

Content and campaign planning

The subsector split should shape the campaign. A transformer engineering guide will mean little to an appliance plant. A battery dry-room checklist will not help a lighting-fixture buyer. Use the four-digit and six-digit NAICS definitions to group accounts, then write about the operational problem each group recognizes. Specificity usually produces fewer impressions and more useful conversations.

Capacity and sourcing decisions

Manufacturers can use the table to identify potential supplier regions, labor pools, and service coverage gaps. A state with substantial sector employment may support local heat treating, fabrication, testing, calibration, automation, packaging, and freight capacity. That relationship is not automatic. Verify each supplier's process capability, quality system, financial health, and available capacity before drawing a sourcing conclusion from cluster size.

Questions this report can answer

Which state has the most electrical equipment manufacturing establishments?

California has the largest published count in the 2022 CBP state file, with 792 establishments. Texas follows with 404, then Florida with 284, New York with 277, Illinois with 274, and Ohio with 270.

Which state employs the most workers in the sector?

California leads the published rows with 32,568 employees. Wisconsin ranks second with 24,385, Ohio third with 23,953, Pennsylvania fourth with 21,401, and Illinois fifth with 19,211.

How should missing states be handled?

Do not enter a zero unless the source explicitly reports zero. Disclosure suppression, classification rules, and file structure can all create a missing row or value. Keep it null, retain the source flag when available, and explain the limitation. That preserves the distinction between “no activity” and “no publishable estimate.”

Is this the same as the electronics industry?

No. Computers, communications equipment, semiconductors, and many electronic instruments are primarily in NAICS 334. NAICS 335 centers on electrical power generation, distribution, storage, and use, plus appliances and lighting. A company can make products that contain electronics while its establishment is classified in electrical equipment manufacturing based on its primary activity.

Research limitations and update policy

County Business Patterns excludes most government employees, self-employed people, private household workers, railroad employees, and agricultural production workers. Its coverage and disclosure practices are described in the CBP program overview. The data count employer establishments active during the reference period, not every legal entity registered to do business.

The main table uses 2022 data because it provides a stable, downloadable state file aligned to the 2022 NAICS structure. Official structural datasets arrive with a lag. Monthly production, construction, and trade releases are timelier but answer different questions. This page labels the vintage rather than blending estimates into the Census table.

We will update the state dataset when a newer complete CBP state file is available and preserve the source link and reference year. Researchers citing a row should include the year, NAICS code, measure, and access date. That makes later comparisons reproducible.

Research glossary and data notes

The electrical equipment manufacturing industry is one of the manufacturing industries reported under NAICS. Researchers also describe it as equipment manufacturing in the US, manufacturing in the US industry, or simply industry in the US. Those phrases are not separate official sectors. The electrical equipment manufacturing market and electrical equipment market can include products and services beyond the domestic NAICS production boundary, especially when a global market research report includes installation, distribution, or aftermarket revenue.

Market size, global demand, market segments, market position, and industry market share are commercial research concepts. Market share and share of industry revenue require a defined geography, year, currency, and denominator. A forecast or CAGR also needs a base year. An exchange rate or trade-weighted index can change a dollar-denominated comparison even when physical output is unchanged. Historical data from 2021 and 2026 estimates should never be presented as though both were measured observations.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes productivity, labor costs, and producer price index data. A producer price index by industry tracks selling-price change, not sales or production volume. The price index may describe a still-challenging price environment, but it cannot identify a company's margin. Compare each period with the previous year and cite the exact series. For 2023, 2022, and other years, verify whether revisions have replaced the initial release.

The component manufacturing subsector includes different industry structures. Electric lighting equipment manufacturing, household appliance production, electrical appliances, electric motors, switchgear apparatus, signalling equipment, electrical lighting, and other apparatus do not share one demand cycle. NAICS industry code 33531 covers electrical equipment manufacturing, while more detailed codes identify particular products. Always verify the current code rather than assigning a company from its name.

Supply chain disruptions, labor costs, domestic producers, EVs and data centers, construction and manufacturing, and defence and manufacturing can all affect the industry outlook. They create different challenges and opportunities for equipment manufacturers and companies in the electrical equipment field. Industry associations and the latest industry releases can add context, but related data from federal agencies should anchor quantitative claims. Individual businesses such as Schneider Electric SE may have a high share of industry revenue in a defined market segment without holding the same position across the entire US manufacturing sector.

Cite this resource

Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 County Business Patterns state file
2. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns methodology
3. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 NAICS 335 definition
4. Bureau of Labor Statistics, NAICS 335 occupational profile
5. Federal Reserve, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
6. U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
7. U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade
8. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data
9. U.S. Census Bureau, Construction Spending