Manufacturing Employment Recovery by State: 2019 to 2024

Which states have the most manufacturing jobs?

California led the country with 1,247,594 private manufacturing jobs in 2024. Texas followed with 973,674. Ohio, Michigan and Illinois completed the top five with 682,242, 600,753 and 578,389 jobs, respectively. Pennsylvania ranked sixth at 563,001, while Indiana ranked seventh at 523,146.

That ranking needs context. A big state usually has more of almost every kind of job. Raw employment measures the size of the addressable labor pool and supplier market. It does not measure how dependent a state is on manufacturing. For that, the location quotient column is the better tool.

California and Texas illustrate the distinction. Together they accounted for more than 2.22 million private manufacturing jobs, yet their location quotients were 0.84 and 0.85. Both had a smaller manufacturing share of private employment than the nation. They are huge factory markets because their entire economies are huge.

The top 10 states by manufacturing employment

The leaders were California at 1,247,594, Texas at 973,674, Ohio at 682,242, Michigan at 600,753, Illinois at 578,389, Pennsylvania at 563,001, Indiana at 523,146, Wisconsin at 465,626, North Carolina at 465,130 and Florida at 427,497. Georgia sat just behind Florida with 426,771. For industrial sales teams, these figures provide a quick first pass at market density. They should not be the only filter. Product fit, subsector mix, plant size and capital spending matter just as much.

Where manufacturing is most concentrated

A location quotient compares an industry's share of local employment with its share nationally. The BLS explanation of location quotients defines a value of 1.00 as equal to the national concentration. A value above 1.00 means the industry has a larger local employment share. A value below 1.00 means it has a smaller share.

Indiana posted the highest state manufacturing employment location quotient at 2.00. Manufacturing therefore occupied twice the share of Indiana's private employment that it occupied nationally. Wisconsin followed at 1.92, Iowa at 1.73, Michigan at 1.66 and Alabama at 1.65. Kentucky, Arkansas, Ohio, Kansas and Mississippi also recorded quotients of 1.47 or higher.

Concentration changes how a market behaves. A dense industrial base tends to support more specialized maintenance contractors, tooling suppliers, automation integrators, technical schools and experienced production workers. It can also create intense competition for machinists, maintenance technicians and engineers. The quotient is a signal, not proof of an easy operating environment.

The lowest disclosed state quotients were New Mexico at 0.40, Alaska at 0.44, Wyoming at 0.45, Maryland at 0.50 and Montana at 0.51. Those values don't mean manufacturing is absent. Maryland still supported 112,981 private manufacturing jobs, for example. They show that manufacturing held a smaller portion of each state's private job base.

Which states added manufacturing jobs?

Growth was uneven. Texas recorded the strongest percentage gain among the largest factory states, up 1.9% from 2023. Florida increased 1.6%, Alabama increased 1.5%, and Oklahoma increased 1.2%. Louisiana grew 1.0%, while Nevada, Idaho and Kansas each gained between 0.7% and 0.8%.

Several large markets moved the other direction. California manufacturing employment declined 6.2%, Michigan declined 2.0%, Indiana and Wisconsin each declined 1.9%, and Iowa declined 1.8%. A one-year decrease can reflect layoffs, plant closures, restructuring, a change in business classification or normal industry cycles. It should not be read as a permanent verdict on a state's industrial base.

Alaska had the steepest disclosed state percentage decline at 6.3%, but its base was only 11,967 jobs. Percentage swings look larger when the denominator is small. Compare both the rate and the number of jobs before drawing conclusions.

Manufacturing pay by state

California reported the highest disclosed average annual manufacturing pay at $122,468. Massachusetts followed at $105,649, Connecticut at $100,701, Maryland at $99,719, New Jersey at $99,560, and Arizona at $98,851. Washington and Texas also exceeded $94,000.

These are industry averages, not the salary for a typical production worker. The QCEW figure blends executives, engineers, technicians, production employees and support staff across every manufacturing subsector. A state with a large pharmaceutical, semiconductor or aerospace cluster can show higher average pay than one weighted toward food processing, apparel or furniture.

Average annual pay also isn't a cost-of-living adjustment. A $90,000 payroll expense in Oregon and the same expense in New York can produce different real purchasing power and recruiting outcomes. Use the figure for labor-cost screening, then check occupation-level wages, benefits, overtime, payroll taxes and local living costs before building a plant budget.

What establishment counts reveal

California had 44,838 private manufacturing establishments, the largest count in the dataset. Texas had 30,070, Florida had 26,843, Michigan had 19,736, and Illinois had 19,326. Establishments represent worksites rather than corporate parents. A manufacturer with plants in three counties can appear three times.

Dividing jobs by establishments gives a rough sense of average site scale, but it is not a published plant-size statistic. Multi-establishment companies, administrative locations and disclosure rules can affect the comparison. Nebraska, Mississippi and Indiana show relatively high employment per establishment in this table. Montana, Hawaii and Alaska show smaller average footprints. For a sales territory, establishment count often says more about the number of potential accounts than statewide job totals do.

A territory with many smaller establishments may require a broad outbound list, local search visibility and distributor coverage. A territory dominated by large plants may reward account-based research and longer procurement cycles. Neither market is inherently better. The sales motion is different.

How to use this data

For plant location and expansion research

Start with employment and the location quotient. A large employment base suggests labor and supplier depth. A high quotient suggests manufacturing specialization. Add wage data to understand broad payroll pressure, then investigate the exact NAICS subsector and occupations you need. State averages can hide sharp differences between metro areas and rural counties.

For manufacturing sales territories

Employment measures the scale of production activity, while establishment count approximates the number of physical targets. Growth indicates recent momentum. A sensible territory score can combine all three, with weights based on what you sell. A machine-tool company may care more about metalworking subsectors and capital investment. A staffing firm may care more about employment, openings and turnover. An industrial cleaning company may value establishment density.

For workforce planning

Average pay is useful for a first screen, but occupation data is required for hiring plans. The QCEW program measures industry employment and wages from unemployment-insurance records. It does not tell you what machinists, welders or industrial engineers earn separately. Pair this table with BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics when setting role-specific ranges.

Methodology and definitions

We downloaded the 2024 QCEW annual-by-industry CSV archive, selected NAICS 31-33 Manufacturing, selected private ownership code 5, and retained statewide records. The table includes all state or state-equivalent records returned in the file. The District of Columbia is not present as a publishable statewide private manufacturing row in the selected industry file. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are included and labeled as territories.

According to the BLS annual averages guide, annual average employment is calculated from the 12 monthly employment levels. Annual average establishments are calculated from quarterly establishment counts. Average annual pay is total annual wages divided by annual average employment. Average weekly wage is total annual wages divided by annual average employment and then divided by 52.

The year-over-year column is the BLS over-the-year percentage change in annual average employment. The location quotient is the BLS annual average employment location quotient. Figures are displayed as published. We did not estimate suppressed employment or wage values. Hawaii's establishment count is shown because BLS publishes it, while its other measures remain suppressed.

QCEW covers more than 95% of U.S. jobs through state unemployment-insurance records and federal worker records. This page uses private ownership only, keeping comparisons focused on commercial manufacturers. The dataset may be revised by BLS, and classification changes can affect comparisons between years.

Questions about state manufacturing employment

What state has the most manufacturing jobs?

California had the most private manufacturing jobs in 2024, with an annual average of 1,247,594. Texas ranked second at 973,674.

What state depends most heavily on manufacturing?

Indiana had the highest state manufacturing employment location quotient at 2.00. That means manufacturing's share of Indiana private employment was twice the corresponding national share. Wisconsin ranked second at 1.92.

Which state pays manufacturing workers the most?

California had the highest disclosed average annual pay for private manufacturing, at $122,468. This industry-wide average includes every covered role and is not a median worker salary.

Does this table include government manufacturing jobs?

No. It uses QCEW private ownership code 5. Federal, state and local government ownership records are excluded.

Cite this resource

Sources

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW 2019 Annual Averages by Industry CSV archive. Starting employment benchmark for every five-year comparison.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW 2024 Annual Averages by Industry CSV archive. Source for every state employment, establishment, pay, wage, growth and location quotient figure.
3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. Program coverage and background.
4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW Annual Averages Guide. Definitions and calculation methods.
5. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Location Quotients Explained. Interpretation of concentration measures.