Manufacturing Location Quotient by State: 2024 Rankings

What a manufacturing location quotient means

The BLS explains location quotients as a way to compare local industry concentration with national industry concentration. For this page, the industry is private manufacturing, NAICS 31-33. If a state has a manufacturing employment location quotient of 2.00, manufacturing's share of private employment in that state is twice the national manufacturing share. If the score is 0.50, manufacturing's share is half the national share.

This is why location quotient is useful for industrial market research. It strips out population size and shows specialization. Texas has more manufacturing jobs than Wisconsin, but Wisconsin's 1.92 manufacturing location quotient shows that manufacturing occupies a much larger share of the state's private economy. For suppliers, recruiters, trade associations, and manufacturers selling into plant-heavy regions, that concentration can be more useful than a simple job-count ranking.

We used the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages 2024 annual single file. The dataset reports annual average establishments, annual average employment, total annual wages, average weekly wage, average annual pay, and BLS-calculated location quotients. We filtered to private ownership, NAICS 31-33 manufacturing, statewide records, and annual 2024 data. Hawaii and the District of Columbia had undisclosed employment in the file, so they appear with establishment counts but no employment ranking.

2024 manufacturing concentration rankings by state

Indiana ranked first with a 2.00 manufacturing employment location quotient, followed by Wisconsin at 1.92, Iowa at 1.73, Michigan at 1.66, and Alabama at 1.65. Those five states are not just large manufacturers. Manufacturing occupies an unusually high share of their private employment base.

The national private manufacturing baseline was 12,733,350 jobs, 397,198 establishments, $1.088 trillion in total annual wages, and $85,461 in average annual pay. A state can be below 1.00 and still have a huge manufacturing base. California, Texas, Florida, and New York all prove that point. Each has large employment numbers, but manufacturing is a smaller share of the total private economy than it is nationwide.

States where manufacturing is most concentrated

The top of the list is mostly the industrial Midwest and the inland South. Indiana's 2.00 location quotient means manufacturing employment was exactly twice as concentrated as the national private employment mix. Wisconsin followed at 1.92, Iowa at 1.73, Michigan at 1.66, and Alabama at 1.65. Kentucky, Arkansas, Ohio, Kansas, and Mississippi rounded out the top ten.

These states tend to have dense supplier networks, plant labor pools, and local service providers that understand production environments. That does not mean every project belongs there. It does mean a manufacturer looking for skilled trades, industrial maintenance vendors, packaging suppliers, contract manufacturers, or plant managers will usually find a deeper bench in a high-LQ state than in a state with the same population but a lower manufacturing share.

High concentration also helps sales teams prioritize territory design. A sales rep covering Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan is working a market where plant density is high relative to the rest of the economy. That can lower travel waste, shorten prospecting cycles, and create more word-of-mouth inside buyer networks. For industrial marketers, it can also guide regional landing pages, trade show choices, association sponsorships, and account-based advertising.

Top 10 states by manufacturing location quotient

States with the most manufacturing jobs

Job count is still important. California reported 1,247,594 private manufacturing jobs in 2024, Texas reported 973,674, Ohio reported 682,242, Michigan reported 600,753, and Illinois reported 578,389. Those five states alone represented a huge share of the national manufacturing labor market.

But the rank order changes when you compare concentration. California ranked first by jobs and thirty-third by manufacturing location quotient. Texas ranked second by jobs and thirty-second by location quotient. Florida ranked tenth by jobs and forty-second by location quotient. Those states have big production bases, but they also have large service, technology, tourism, finance, healthcare, and logistics sectors that dilute manufacturing's share of private employment.

For site selection, this distinction is practical. A large low-LQ state can be great for customer proximity, logistics, and broad hiring. A smaller high-LQ state can be better for supplier depth, skilled production labor, peer benchmarking, and plant leadership recruiting. The right answer depends on what you're trying to solve.

Where manufacturing employment grew in 2024

National private manufacturing employment fell by 134,711 jobs from 2023 to 2024, a 1.0% decline in the QCEW annual file. The decline was not evenly spread. Texas added 18,271 manufacturing jobs, Florida added 6,555, Alabama added 4,223, Georgia added 2,383, and Oklahoma added 1,712.

Growth states were not always high-concentration states. Texas and Florida added the most jobs while staying below the national concentration baseline. Alabama was different. It combined a high 1.65 location quotient with positive job growth, which makes it stand out for companies tracking both industrial depth and expansion. Georgia also grew while sitting slightly above the national concentration baseline with a 1.07 location quotient.

This is useful for sales teams because growing markets create churn, construction, purchasing, equipment moves, staffing needs, and supplier changes. A shrinking market can still be profitable, especially if it has a dense installed base, but sales messaging and account targeting should be different.

Manufacturing pay by state

The national average annual pay for private manufacturing was $85,461, equal to an average weekly wage of $1,643. Pay varied sharply across states. California led disclosed states at $122,468 in average annual pay, followed by Massachusetts at $105,649, Connecticut at $100,701, Maryland at $99,719, and New Jersey at $99,560.

Higher pay states are not always the most concentrated manufacturing states. California and Massachusetts sit below a 1.00 location quotient, but they have advanced manufacturing, life sciences, electronics, aerospace, and high-cost labor markets that push wages higher. Indiana and Wisconsin have much higher concentration, but their average annual pay was $79,292 and $71,806. Pay tells you about labor cost and industry mix. Location quotient tells you about concentration. You need both.

How to use this data for manufacturing lead generation

Location quotient is especially helpful when you sell to manufacturers because it helps you separate market size from market density. A state with a high job count gives you a large account universe. A state with a high location quotient gives you a dense industrial ecosystem. Dense markets tend to support local trade groups, plant manager networks, machine shops, maintenance contractors, recruiters, freight providers, packaging vendors, and industrial real estate brokers. Those networks make prospecting more efficient when you work them correctly.

If your sales motion depends on field visits, local events, channel partners, or referrals, high-LQ states deserve extra attention. If your product depends on large enterprise accounts, capital budgets, or customer proximity, high-employment states may matter more. For example, Ohio combines both scale and concentration, with 682,242 manufacturing jobs and a 1.50 location quotient. California combines massive scale with lower concentration, at 1,247,594 jobs and a 0.84 location quotient. Those markets should not get the same campaign.

Manufacturers can also use this data when comparing hiring risk. A high-concentration state may have more experienced production workers, but it can also have more competition for the same welders, machinists, maintenance techs, controls engineers, and supervisors. A lower-concentration state may require more training and recruiting work, but competition from nearby plants may be lighter. Use the LQ number as an early signal, then pair it with wage data, commute sheds, turnover, and specific occupation availability.

Methodology

This report uses the 2024 BLS QCEW annual single file. We filtered the data to private ownership, NAICS 31-33 manufacturing, annual records, and statewide area codes. We ranked states by BLS-published annual average employment location quotient. The BLS file also provides annual average establishments, annual average employment, total annual wages, average weekly wage, average annual pay, and year-over-year changes. We did not estimate suppressed values. If the BLS file suppressed a state's employment, pay, or location quotient, the table says so.

The BLS publishes a separate explainer for how location quotients are calculated. In plain English, the calculation compares an industry's local employment share with the same industry's national employment share. We used the pre-calculated BLS values rather than recalculating them from scratch because that keeps the page aligned with the public QCEW release.

One caution. Location quotient is not a quality score. It does not say a state is better or worse for every manufacturer. It tells you how concentrated manufacturing is in that state's private employment base. A site selection team should still evaluate utilities, taxes, logistics, incentives, permitting, labor quality, suppliers, real estate, training partners, customer proximity, and risk.

Regional patterns in the location quotient data

The clearest pattern is the manufacturing belt running from the Great Lakes into parts of the upper Midwest and inland South. Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Missouri all sat above the national manufacturing concentration baseline in the 2024 QCEW data. That cluster matters because manufacturers rarely operate alone. They rely on machine shops, fabricators, maintenance contractors, packaging suppliers, toolmakers, logistics partners, technical schools, and experienced plant managers. A high location quotient often points to the presence of that surrounding ecosystem.

The South shows a different kind of concentration story. Alabama reported a 1.65 manufacturing employment location quotient and added 4,223 manufacturing jobs year over year. Kentucky posted a 1.58 location quotient, South Carolina posted 1.41, Tennessee posted 1.35, Arkansas posted 1.52, and Mississippi posted 1.47. Those states are not all the same market, but they share a strong production orientation relative to their total private economies.

The West Coast is more mixed. California had the country's largest disclosed manufacturing job base at 1,247,594 private manufacturing jobs, but its 0.84 employment location quotient was below the national baseline. Oregon had a 1.14 location quotient, while Washington reported 0.92. That does not make one state better than another. It means the role manufacturing plays in the local private economy is different, even where absolute production employment is large.

New England also splits in interesting ways. New Hampshire had a 1.21 manufacturing location quotient, Connecticut had 1.13, Vermont had 1.08, Rhode Island had 0.98, Maine had 0.97, and Massachusetts had 0.77. Massachusetts still had high manufacturing pay, with $105,649 in average annual manufacturing pay, but manufacturing represented a smaller share of private employment than it did in New Hampshire or Connecticut.

How this differs from GDP, output, and export rankings

A location quotient is not the same thing as manufacturing GDP, factory output, or export value. It is an employment concentration measure. That matters because a state can have high-value manufacturing sectors with relatively modest employment. Semiconductor fabs, pharmaceutical plants, aerospace facilities, and advanced electronics operations may generate large output per worker. A location quotient will show whether manufacturing employment is concentrated, not whether each worker produces more output.

That is why California can have 1,247,594 manufacturing jobs and a lower concentration score than Indiana, which had 523,146 manufacturing jobs. California's economy is enormous and diversified. Indiana's private employment base is more manufacturing-heavy. If you're selling plant floor software, industrial services, ERP implementation, contract machining, safety training, workforce development, or maintenance support, both markets matter, but for different reasons.

Export and GDP rankings answer questions about value and trade. Location quotient answers a concentration question. Employment rankings answer a scale question. Wage rankings answer a labor-cost and industry-mix question. A serious market plan should use all of them. This page focuses on concentration because it is one of the quickest ways to spot plant-heavy states that might be overlooked by companies that only chase the largest population centers.

What high-LQ states mean for industrial sales territories

A high manufacturing location quotient can support tighter sales territories. If your reps need to visit plants, attend regional association events, tour facilities, or build relationships with plant managers, density matters. Indiana's 2.00 location quotient, Wisconsin's 1.92, and Michigan's 1.66 suggest that manufacturing accounts are more common in the private employment base than they are nationally. That can reduce wasted outreach to non-industrial accounts when your prospect list is built correctly.

It can also change channel strategy. In dense manufacturing regions, local distributors, independent manufacturer reps, integration partners, contract maintenance companies, and technical schools may already have trusted relationships with your buyers. That makes partner marketing more attractive. In lower-LQ but high-employment states like California and Texas, direct account segmentation may matter more because the manufacturing base is large but spread across broader and more diverse markets.

Location quotient can also help with content planning. A company selling to manufacturers in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan can write regional content around automotive suppliers, industrial machinery, metals, plastics, and production workforce issues. A company targeting California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey may need more content around life sciences, electronics, aerospace, regulated production, and high-cost engineering labor. The number does not write the strategy for you, but it points you toward better questions.

How manufacturers can use LQ data for hiring and site planning

Manufacturers often look at labor availability and wage data first. That is sensible, but location quotient adds useful context. A high manufacturing LQ can signal a deeper local labor pool for production jobs, maintenance roles, quality technicians, supervisors, plant managers, and industrial engineers. It can also signal more competition for the same people. Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan all have high concentration, but they also have many employers chasing experienced manufacturing talent.

Lower-LQ states can be attractive when a company wants less direct competition from nearby plants or needs proximity to customers, ports, universities, energy assets, or population centers. Texas is a good example. Its 0.85 location quotient is below the national baseline, but it added 18,271 private manufacturing jobs year over year and had 973,674 manufacturing jobs in 2024. That combination points to scale and momentum, even if manufacturing is not as concentrated as it is in the Midwest.

Site planning should never rest on one metric. Use location quotient to create a short list, then test it against utilities, freight lanes, customer distance, taxes, incentives, training capacity, permitting, land availability, wage pressure, and supplier coverage. A strong LQ is a signal. It is not a substitute for local due diligence.

Frequently asked questions

What state has the highest manufacturing location quotient?

Indiana had the highest disclosed manufacturing employment location quotient in the 2024 BLS QCEW annual file, with a score of 2.00. Wisconsin ranked second at 1.92, and Iowa ranked third at 1.73.

Does the state with the most manufacturing jobs also have the highest location quotient?

No. California had the most disclosed private manufacturing jobs in 2024, with 1,247,594 annual average manufacturing employees, but its manufacturing employment location quotient was 0.84. Indiana had fewer jobs at 523,146, but it ranked first by concentration with a 2.00 location quotient.

Is a higher location quotient always better?

Not always. A higher LQ means manufacturing is more concentrated in the state's private employment base. That can help with supplier depth, peer networks, and plant labor availability, but it can also mean more competition for workers. A lower-LQ state can still be a strong manufacturing market if it has a large job base, strong growth, strategic customers, or high-value sectors.

Why are some states marked as suppressed?

The BLS QCEW file suppresses some values to protect confidentiality. We did not estimate suppressed employment, wage, pay, or location quotient values. Hawaii and the District of Columbia appear with establishment counts in the table, but their employment values were suppressed in the filtered 2024 annual private manufacturing record.

Cite this page

Suggested citation: Manufacturing Lead Generation. "Manufacturing Location Quotient by State: 2024 Rankings." Updated June 27, 2026. https://manufacturingleadgeneration.com/manufacturing-location-quotient-by-state/

Sources

Every statistic in this report comes from the sources below. Table rows link back to the BLS QCEW annual source file.

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual single file
• Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW Location Quotient Details
• Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW Open Data Access
• Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW area titles file