Manufacturing Establishment Size Statistics 2026

Key manufacturing establishment size statistics

The U.S. had 284,452 manufacturing establishments with paid employees in the 2023 County Business Patterns national file. Those establishments employed 12,335,234 workers and reported $902.96 billion in annual payroll. That works out to an average of 43.4 employees per establishment and about $73,202 in annual payroll per employee, calculated from the same Census source.

The important split is not average size. The average is pulled upward by large automotive, aerospace, electronics, chemical, and food plants. The median buying environment is much smaller. 102,567 manufacturing establishments had fewer than five employees, and 194,583 establishments had fewer than 20 employees, based on CBP size-class fields.

Large plants are still where a lot of headcount sits. Establishments with 500 or more employees made up only 3,384 locations, but they employed 3.80 million people. In other words, the top end represented 1.19% of establishments and 30.8% of manufacturing employment, using the Census Bureau's national CBP counts.

U.S. manufacturing establishments by employee size

This table is the cleanest way to see the shape of the manufacturing market. The small-establishment count is huge, but payroll and headcount concentrate as plant size increases. For anyone selling into the sector, that means the offer, proof, and sales motion have to match plant scale.

What the size distribution means for manufacturers and suppliers

A supplier calling on manufacturers needs different messages for a 14-person machine shop than for a 1,400-person food processing plant. The CBP data shows why. Establishments under 20 employees accounted for 68.4% of manufacturing locations, but only 7.5% of manufacturing employment. They are numerous, specialized, and often owner-led.

Mid-sized establishments from 20 to 249 employees are the workhorse middle of the market. They represented 28.4% of establishments and 44.1% of employment, using the same Census size-class data. These plants are large enough to have purchasing routines, quality requirements, maintenance calendars, and supervisor-level decision makers, but they usually don't have the procurement bureaucracy of the largest plants.

The biggest locations, 500 employees and above, are few but heavy. The CBP national file reports 2,347 establishments with 500 to 999 employees and 1,037 establishments with 1,000 or more employees. Those two brackets carried more than $331.01 billion in annual payroll.

State-by-state manufacturing establishment size data

State data comes from the 2023 CBP state file. The table below ranks states by manufacturing establishment count and adds two practical size markers: the share of establishments with fewer than 20 employees and the share with 500 or more employees.

States with the most small manufacturing establishments

Some states are especially dense with small shops. That matters for distributors, industrial service providers, machine-tool sellers, ERP vendors, and marketing teams targeting owner-led manufacturers. In the CBP state file, Wyoming had the highest under-20 share at 86.5%, followed by Montana at 84.6% and Vermont at 83.6%.

How to use this data in manufacturing marketing

If you're building a lead generation plan for manufacturers, establishment size should change your targeting. Small shops often search for fast answers: replacement parts, local machining, short-run fabrication, compliance documents, and supplier comparisons. Larger plants search with more layers: approved vendor requirements, uptime risk, safety, maintenance windows, quality documentation, integration, and procurement controls.

The Census data makes one thing clear. A single generic manufacturing campaign will miss the mark. The U.S. has 102,567 micro manufacturing establishments under five employees, 42,477 establishments with 20 to 49 employees, and just 1,037 establishments with 1,000 or more employees. Those are different buying committees.

For a small manufacturer, the best content usually answers specific application and capability questions before the first call. For a large plant, the best content reduces risk for the maintenance, engineering, quality, and purchasing teams that need to defend a supplier choice internally.

Data notes and limitations

County Business Patterns counts establishments with paid employees. It does not count nonemployer businesses, and it reports establishments rather than firms. One manufacturing firm can operate more than one establishment. The Census Bureau explains CBP coverage, employment, payroll, industry coding, and disclosure rules in its CBP methodology documentation.

NAICS 31-33 is the manufacturing sector. The Census Bureau maintains NAICS definitions through its NAICS reference resources. Size classes in this report are CBP establishment employment bands, not SBA small-business size standards. SBA size standards vary by NAICS code and are published separately by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Manufacturing size classes by sales and buying behavior

The smallest manufacturing establishments are not just scaled-down versions of large plants. They buy differently because the person researching a vendor may also be the owner, estimator, plant manager, and backup quality contact. The CBP national file counted 102,567 establishments under five employees. That group alone represented 36.1% of all manufacturing establishments, but only 1.6% of manufacturing employment.

The next two brackets are still small, but they usually have more defined roles. The Census Bureau data counted 49,034 establishments with 5 to 9 employees and 42,982 establishments with 10 to 19 employees. Together, those two brackets added 92,016 manufacturing locations. When you combine every establishment under 20 employees, the total reaches 194,583 locations.

Those small establishments are often high-intent searchers. They don't have time for vendor education that sounds like a conference keynote. They need clear capabilities, materials, tolerances, minimum order quantities, lead times, inspection options, and examples of work similar to the job in front of them.

The 20 to 49 bracket is where many job shops, fabricators, packaging suppliers, mold builders, industrial repair shops, and component manufacturers start to look more structured. Census counted 42,477 establishments in that size class, employing 1,328,624 people, according to 2023 CBP. The average establishment in that bracket had 31.3 employees, calculated from CBP employment and establishment fields.

Plants with 50 to 249 employees are often big enough to have purchasing routines and dedicated supervisors. The CBP national file counted 21,365 establishments with 50 to 99 employees and 16,896 establishments with 100 to 249 employees. Combined, those two brackets employed 4,113,873 workers. That is one-third of all manufacturing employment in only 13.5% of establishments.

The 250 to 499 bracket is a different sales environment again. Census counted 5,747 establishments in this bracket, employing 1,979,361 workers and reporting $145.41 billion in annual payroll in 2023 CBP. Buyers at this size usually care about qualification proof, capacity, service response, and whether the supplier can keep up if demand shifts.

The largest plants are rare but valuable. Establishments with 500 to 999 employees had 1,584,859 workers, and establishments with 1,000 or more employees had 2,215,345 workers, based on CBP size-class employment fields. Those locations need supplier pages that help internal champions defend the vendor choice. Think certifications, case studies, installation documentation, service coverage, safety records, cybersecurity language, and quality process evidence.

Payroll intensity rises with plant size

Payroll per employee is not a perfect wage measure because CBP annual payroll includes multiple job types and timing effects. Still, it is useful for comparing broad size classes. The CBP national data shows annual payroll per employee of about $60,400 for establishments under five employees, $62,153 for 20 to 49 employee establishments, $73,462 for 250 to 499 employee establishments, and $94,947 for establishments with 1,000 or more employees.

That pattern tracks with what manufacturers see on the ground. Larger facilities often have more engineering, maintenance, compliance, logistics, IT, and management roles mixed into the plant headcount. They also tend to operate in capital-heavy sectors where uptime, documentation, and supplier reliability carry more weight in purchasing decisions.

The payroll gap should shape lead scoring. A five-person prototype shop can be a great customer if your offer fits short runs, custom work, repair, or local service. A 1,000-person plant may justify a longer sales cycle if your product reduces downtime or improves throughput. The mistake is treating both accounts as equal just because both sit under NAICS 31-33.

State patterns worth watching

California led the country with 35,300 manufacturing establishments in the 2023 CBP state file. Texas followed with 21,034 establishments, Florida had 14,341, New York had 13,837, and Ohio had 13,307. Those five states alone accounted for 97,819 manufacturing establishments, more than one-third of the national total.

Employment tells a slightly different story. California reported 1,157,201 manufacturing employees, Texas reported 869,062, Ohio reported 689,133, Michigan reported 617,147, and Illinois reported 588,813, according to the same CBP state file. States with deep automotive, machinery, fabricated metal, food, and chemical sectors tend to carry larger average plant sizes.

Florida is a good example of why establishment counts and employment counts should not be read the same way. The state had the third-highest establishment count at 14,341, but its average manufacturing establishment size was 25.0 employees, calculated from CBP employment and establishment fields. Ohio had fewer establishments than Florida, but its average was 51.8 employees per establishment.

Small-establishment states need a different marketing playbook. In the CBP state data, 87.9% of Wyoming manufacturing establishments had fewer than 20 employees, compared with 86.7% in Montana and 84.4% in Vermont. Outreach in those markets should assume lean teams, owner involvement, and less tolerance for vague positioning.

Large-plant concentration also varies. The state CBP file shows South Carolina with a 2.83% share of manufacturing establishments in the 500+ employee classes, followed by Mississippi at 2.53% and Alabama at 2.44%. These percentages look small, but they point toward states where large plants carry a bigger share of the industrial footprint.

How this resource was calculated

The national table uses the NAICS 31-33 total row from the 2023 CBP national data file. Establishment counts come from the CBP size-class fields beginning with n, such as n<5, n5_9, and n1000. Employment counts come from the matching e fields. Payroll uses annual payroll fields, which CBP reports in thousands of dollars.

The state table uses the NAICS 31-33 total rows from the 2023 CBP state file. Under-20 share is calculated from the under 5, 5 to 9, and 10 to 19 establishment size classes. The 500+ share is calculated from the 500 to 999 and 1,000+ establishment size classes. Average employees per establishment is employment divided by establishment count.

Some CBP cells are suppressed or flagged for disclosure protection. National totals are strong enough for broad benchmarking. State size-class detail should be used as a directional planning tool, not as a substitute for a full market study, distributor territory analysis, or account-level segmentation.

Quick FAQ

Does establishment size equal company size?

No. An establishment is a single physical business location. A manufacturing firm can operate multiple establishments. The Census Bureau explains this distinction in its County Business Patterns methodology.

Does CBP include manufacturers with no employees?

No. CBP covers employer establishments. Nonemployer manufacturers are reported separately by the Census Bureau. This page is focused on employer establishments because those locations are usually the relevant targets for B2B industrial lead generation, supplier marketing, and RFQ conversion.

What is the best size segment to target?

It depends on the offer. A local machining service may do well with smaller establishments that need speed and flexibility. An automation integrator, ERP vendor, industrial maintenance firm, or compliance-heavy supplier may need mid-sized and large plants where the problem is expensive enough to support a longer sales cycle.

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Manufacturing Lead Generation. "Manufacturing Establishment Size Statistics 2026." Updated May 28, 2026. https://manufacturingleadgeneration.com/manufacturing-establishment-size-statistics/

Sources

Every statistic on this page is sourced from one of the following references: