Last updated: April 8, 2026
Manufacturing Jobs by Metro Area: Where Factory Jobs Concentrate
State-level manufacturing data is useful, but it hides where production really clusters. Hiring competition, supplier density, wage pressure, plant size, and local labor availability happen at the metro level. If you're deciding where to recruit, expand, benchmark payroll, or target manufacturing accounts, you need city and regional data, not just a statewide average.
This page compiles metro-level manufacturing employment, establishments, annual payroll, average pay, and manufacturing share of local jobs using the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns manufacturing dataset and the matching all-industry metro dataset. We filtered to metropolitan areas, calculated derived metrics, and ranked the metros that matter most for factory hiring and industrial growth.
376
Metros with 1,000+ manufacturing jobs in the dataset
9.8M
Manufacturing jobs across those metros
$749.4B
Combined annual manufacturing payroll
$76,225
Average annual manufacturing pay per worker
What's in This Report
Key findings
Manufacturing is still a metro story. Across 376 metropolitan areas with at least 1,000 factory jobs, employers accounted for 9,831,330 manufacturing workers, 234,438 establishments, and $749.4B in annual payroll, based on our compilation of 2023 Census CBP metro data for NAICS 31-33.
The biggest job hubs are not surprising, but the scale is. Los Angeles alone has 435,021 manufacturing jobs, ahead of Chicago at 370,871, New York at 297,801, and Dallas-Fort Worth at 281,809. Those figures come straight from the Census metro manufacturing file.
The most manufacturing-dependent metros are smaller and more specialized. Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana gets 55.7% of all local employment from manufacturing, followed by Dalton, Georgia at 35.3% and Sheboygan, Wisconsin at 34.9%, based on our comparison of the manufacturing dataset against the 2023 CBP all-industry metro file.
Pay is concentrated in a different set of markets. Among metros with at least 5,000 manufacturing jobs, Bloomington, Illinois leads with average annual manufacturing pay of $168,994, followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont at $154,388 and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at $144,880, using annual payroll divided by employment from the same Census dataset.
The national backdrop still matters. NAM says manufacturing represented 9.5% of U.S. GDP in Q3 2025 and employed nearly 13 million people, according to its manufacturing economic data center. FRED also shows average hourly earnings for all manufacturing employees tracked through the BLS manufacturing earnings series, and average weekly hours through the BLS manufacturing hours series. The metro data below shows where those national pressures are felt most intensely.
Largest metros for manufacturing employment
If you're selling to manufacturers, building an industrial recruiting plan, or deciding where to sponsor trade events, start with absolute job count. Big employment hubs create supplier density, more plant managers per ZIP code, deeper technical labor pools, and more competition for skilled workers. They also give you better odds of finding adjacent verticals such as machining, fabricated metals, electronics, food processing, and aerospace in the same metro.
The top of the list blends old-line industrial regions with sunbelt growth markets. Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Grand Rapids still matter. So do Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Seattle. That's useful context if you're choosing between legacy industrial concentration and newer growth markets with fresh investment and population inflows.
| Metro | Manufacturing Jobs | Establishments | Avg. Annual Pay | Manufacturing Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 435,021 | 14,403 | $79,791 | 7.8% |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 370,871 | 9,298 | $75,730 | 8.7% |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 297,801 | 12,747 | $73,944 | 3.5% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 281,809 | 5,673 | $80,251 | 7.8% |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 240,214 | 5,103 | $74,835 | 13% |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 207,412 | 5,739 | $86,684 | 7.2% |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 201,259 | 4,201 | $79,574 | 10.7% |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 171,124 | 4,708 | $83,640 | 6% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 168,685 | 4,046 | $94,586 | 6.3% |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 163,443 | 4,023 | $64,411 | 6.1% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 159,957 | 3,154 | $103,464 | 8.5% |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 139,010 | 3,398 | $154,388 | 5.8% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 135,325 | 3,115 | $87,582 | 6.5% |
| Cleveland, OH | 123,303 | 2,951 | $72,729 | 12.7% |
| Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI | 120,458 | 1,913 | $63,493 | 22.3% |
Source: 2023 Census County Business Patterns, manufacturing metro query plus matching all-industry metro query for share calculations.
Most manufacturing-dependent metros
Absolute job count only tells part of the story. The stronger signal for regional exposure is the share of all metro employment tied to manufacturing. A metro where manufacturing accounts for 25% to 55% of all jobs tends to feel demand swings faster, suffer more when one large employer slows production, and create tighter ecosystems around specific product categories.
Look at the names in this ranking and the specialization becomes obvious. Elkhart is RV country. Dalton is flooring and carpet. Kokomo and Columbus tie heavily to automotive. Hickory has a long furniture and industrial products base. These aren't broad white-collar economies that happen to have a few plants. They are local economies built around making things.
55.7%
Elkhart-Goshen's share of all local jobs tied to manufacturing
35.3%
Dalton, Georgia's manufacturing job share
30.1%
Kokomo's manufacturing job share, with just 70 establishments
| Metro | Manufacturing Share | Manufacturing Jobs | Avg. Employees per Plant | Avg. Annual Pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elkhart-Goshen, IN | 55.7% | 75,910 | 90.3 | $57,717 |
| Dalton, GA | 35.3% | 21,721 | 69.8 | $52,256 |
| Sheboygan, WI | 34.9% | 18,533 | 91.3 | $67,999 |
| Columbus, IN | 30.6% | 14,384 | 103.5 | $62,066 |
| Kokomo, IN | 30.1% | 9,490 | 135.6 | $78,482 |
| Morristown, TN | 29.5% | 12,406 | 101.7 | $53,849 |
| Wausau, WI | 28.8% | 18,923 | 78.8 | $64,506 |
| Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC | 28.6% | 40,702 | 64.3 | $54,456 |
| Oshkosh-Neenah, WI | 27.3% | 24,841 | 90 | $71,309 |
| Logan, UT-ID | 27.2% | 16,118 | 65.3 | $67,798 |
| Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA | 26% | 14,580 | 102.7 | $67,404 |
| Gainesville, GA | 26% | 24,004 | 101.7 | $57,337 |
| Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN | 26% | 21,841 | 127 | $71,322 |
| Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI | 25.7% | 13,336 | 51.9 | $65,327 |
| Battle Creek, MI | 25.6% | 12,366 | 84.7 | $62,606 |
Source: Census CBP manufacturing query divided by Census CBP all-industry metro employment query.
Highest-pay manufacturing metros
Average annual manufacturing pay is where industry mix shows up fast. Metros with heavy life sciences, semiconductor, aerospace, energy, and advanced materials exposure tend to outrank furniture, food, or labor-intensive assembly hubs. That's why the highest-pay list includes Bay Area markets, Louisiana petrochemical hubs, Seattle, Tucson, and Savannah.
This metric is calculated by dividing annual payroll by total manufacturing employment in the Census dataset. It's not the same as a role-specific wage survey, and it doesn't adjust for occupation mix or overtime. Still, it's a strong benchmark for how expensive a local manufacturing labor market feels in practice.
| Metro | Avg. Annual Pay | Manufacturing Jobs | Annual Payroll | Manufacturing Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomington, IL | $168,994 | 7,278 | $1.2B | 9.6% |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $154,388 | 139,010 | $21.5B | 5.8% |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $144,880 | 97,357 | $14.1B | 8.2% |
| Lake Charles, LA | $115,291 | 10,240 | $1.2B | 12.2% |
| New Orleans-Metairie, LA | $110,754 | 21,886 | $2.4B | 5.3% |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | $104,495 | 19,842 | $2.1B | 14.9% |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | $104,331 | 28,785 | $3.0B | 7.9% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $103,464 | 159,957 | $16.5B | 8.5% |
| Tucson, AZ | $103,426 | 23,386 | $2.4B | 6.8% |
| Baton Rouge, LA | $102,530 | 25,659 | $2.6B | 7.3% |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $101,667 | 29,036 | $3.0B | 7.3% |
| Corpus Christi, TX | $99,549 | 11,245 | $1.1B | 7.2% |
| Savannah, GA | $97,890 | 18,884 | $1.8B | 10.9% |
| Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | $95,041 | 25,745 | $2.4B | 8.4% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $94,586 | 168,685 | $16.0B | 6.3% |
Source: Census CBP metro manufacturing query. Average annual pay calculated as payroll divided by employment.
Metros with the biggest factory base
Establishment count matters for sales and channel strategy. A metro with 4,000 or 10,000 manufacturing establishments usually means a broader mix of small and midsize shops, more niche subcontractors, and more opportunities for equipment distributors, software vendors, recruiters, and industrial marketers. It can also mean a fragmented market where average plant size is smaller and account penetration takes more field work.
Los Angeles and New York are the clearest examples. They do not dominate because every plant is huge. They dominate because there are so many plants. Miami also shows up high on establishment count even though its manufacturing employment and share are much lower than Midwest and southern industrial hubs.
| Metro | Establishments | Manufacturing Jobs | Avg. Employees per Plant | Avg. Annual Pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 14,403 | 435,021 | 30.2 | $79,791 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 12,747 | 297,801 | 23.4 | $73,944 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 9,298 | 370,871 | 39.9 | $75,730 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 5,739 | 207,412 | 36.1 | $86,684 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 5,673 | 281,809 | 49.7 | $80,251 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 5,103 | 240,214 | 47.1 | $74,835 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 4,708 | 171,124 | 36.3 | $83,640 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 4,683 | 80,617 | 17.2 | $62,907 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 4,201 | 201,259 | 47.9 | $79,574 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 4,046 | 168,685 | 41.7 | $94,586 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 4,023 | 163,443 | 40.6 | $64,411 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 3,398 | 139,010 | 40.9 | $154,388 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 3,369 | 101,267 | 30.1 | $64,301 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 3,154 | 159,957 | 50.7 | $103,464 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 3,115 | 135,325 | 43.4 | $87,582 |
Source: 2023 Census County Business Patterns manufacturing metro query.
Largest average plant size
Average employees per plant is a blunt metric, but it still tells you something important. When plant size is unusually large, you are often looking at auto assembly, heavy industrial production, food processing complexes, aerospace, or a handful of giant facilities that dominate the local economy. Those metros behave differently than highly fragmented shop markets.
Kokomo, Tuscaloosa, Lafayette, and Bowling Green all stand out here for obvious reasons. This is a useful filter for anyone deciding whether they need an enterprise account strategy or a volume-based SMB outreach model. If the market is driven by fewer, larger employers, your buying committee gets more complex and the account list gets shorter fast.
| Metro | Avg. Employees per Plant | Manufacturing Jobs | Establishments | Manufacturing Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kokomo, IN | 135.6 | 9,490 | 70 | 30.1% |
| Tuscaloosa, AL | 128.7 | 22,257 | 173 | 24.7% |
| Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN | 127 | 21,841 | 172 | 26% |
| St. Joseph, MO-KS | 110.6 | 12,387 | 112 | 25.2% |
| Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | 110.2 | 16,083 | 146 | 23.4% |
| Bowling Green, KY | 108.9 | 14,695 | 135 | 21.9% |
| Rocky Mount, NC | 108.2 | 12,336 | 114 | 24.4% |
| Grand Island, NE | 107.2 | 9,006 | 84 | 23.5% |
| Columbus, IN | 103.5 | 14,384 | 139 | 30.6% |
| Warner Robins, GA | 103.1 | 7,935 | 77 | 15.3% |
| Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA | 102.7 | 14,580 | 142 | 26% |
| Hanford-Corcoran, CA | 102.2 | 6,131 | 60 | 21.3% |
| Gainesville, GA | 101.7 | 24,004 | 236 | 26% |
| Morristown, TN | 101.7 | 12,406 | 122 | 29.5% |
| Gulfport-Biloxi, MS | 101.2 | 20,248 | 200 | 15.4% |
Source: Census CBP metro manufacturing query. Average employees per plant calculated as employment divided by establishments.
Why this matters for manufacturers, recruiters, and industrial marketers
A lot of industrial planning still gets done at the state level because state incentives, tax policy, and headline rankings are easy to compare. The problem is that your actual labor market does not behave at the state level. A plant in Grand Rapids competes in a different environment than one in Detroit, even though both sit in Michigan. The same goes for Dallas versus Houston, or San Jose versus Riverside.
If you recruit skilled labor, metro data helps you estimate where wage pressure is likely to rise first. A metro with high manufacturing concentration and large average plant size usually has fewer easy candidates available when one major employer starts hiring. If you need to hire an engineer, technician, operator, assembler, or mechanical maintenance associate, the local MSA matters more than a statewide talking point. If you sell software or equipment, metros with many establishments give you more potential accounts. If you sell high-ticket enterprise services, metros with larger average plants may be the better hunting ground.
This data also changes how you think about SEO and paid media in the manufacturing industry. A statewide campaign may look logical on paper, but the buying density is often clustered in a handful of metros. If a third of the relevant firms in a state sit inside one metro area, that changes your landing page strategy, your sales territory design, your warehouse footprint, and your event calendar.
None of this means metro data replaces role-specific wage data, state policy data, or sector benchmarks. It means you need all three layers. Use state data to understand cost and policy. Use sector data to understand what is being made. Use metro data to understand where buyers, plants, and workers are actually concentrated, and where long-term operations planning has the best odds of working.
Quick questions people ask about manufacturing jobs by metro area
Which metro has the most manufacturing jobs? Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim leads with 435,021 manufacturing jobs in the 2023 Census CBP metro file. Chicago is second at 370,871, then New York at 297,801.
What about manufacturing jobs in Minneapolis? Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI ranks seventh nationally in this dataset with 201,259 manufacturing jobs, 4,201 establishments, and average annual pay of $79,574 from the same Census metro query.
Which metros are best if you want a dense supplier network? Large-establishment markets such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and Dallas offer the broadest supplier network. That matters if your operation depends on local tool shops, packaging partners, fabrication houses, and maintenance vendors.
Which metros look best for 1st shift factory hiring? Markets with high manufacturing share and a broad plant base, such as Elkhart, Sheboygan, Hickory, and Grand Rapids, usually deserve a closer look. They have deep factory labor pools, but they also come with tougher competition for 1st shift production talent.
How should you use this for expansion planning? Start with the metropolitan statistical area data, then layer in local machinery suppliers, distribution access, inventory needs, and workforce depth. A new manufacturing operation in the Northwest may need a different recruit-and-troubleshoot plan than a southeastern auto corridor, even when headline wages look close.
Trying to Reach Manufacturers in the Right Metros?
We help manufacturing companies build SEO and lead generation programs around actual market density, not generic national traffic. If you want to target the metros where factory buyers and plant decision-makers are concentrated, we can map that strategy with you.
Book a Free ConsultationHow to cite this resource
You may cite or link to this page in articles, sales decks, and research briefs. Suggested citation:
For formal academic work, cite the original U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns datasets linked throughout this page.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau. 2023 County Business Patterns API query, metro and micro areas, NAICS 31-33 manufacturing.
- U.S. Census Bureau. 2023 County Business Patterns API query, metro and micro areas, all industries.
- U.S. Census Bureau. 2023 County Business Patterns API query, United States total, NAICS 31-33 manufacturing.
- U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns program overview.
- U.S. Census Bureau. 2023 County Business Patterns release announcement.
- U.S. Census Bureau. NAICS 31-33 Manufacturing definition.
- National Association of Manufacturers. Manufacturing in the United States, economic data center.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis / BLS. Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Manufacturing.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis / BLS. Average Weekly Hours of All Employees, Manufacturing.
