US manufacturing by industry
Food employs the most people of any manufacturing subsector (1.7 million), followed by vehicles, aircraft and parts (1.7 million). Fabricated metal products has the most establishments (53,790). Figures are Census County Business Patterns 2023.
| Industry | Establishments | Employees | In EPA records |
|---|---|---|---|
| FoodNAICS 311 | 31,130 | 1,707,316 | 9,496 |
| Vehicles, aircraft and partsNAICS 336 | 11,691 | 1,682,910 | 10,870 |
| Fabricated metal productsNAICS 332 | 53,790 | 1,441,471 | 20,360 |
| MachineryNAICS 333 | 21,668 | 1,086,146 | 11,624 |
| ChemicalsNAICS 325 | 14,543 | 911,245 | 18,067 |
| Plastics and rubberNAICS 326 | 11,392 | 815,991 | 6,792 |
| Computers and electronicsNAICS 334 | 11,262 | 815,444 | 6,951 |
| Medical devices and other goodsNAICS 339 | 23,626 | 557,897 | 9,835 |
| Wood productsNAICS 321 | 13,900 | 432,255 | 5,638 |
| Glass, cement and stoneNAICS 327 | 15,317 | 412,320 | 13,749 |
| PrintingNAICS 323 | 22,301 | 386,248 | 5,489 |
| Electrical equipment and appliancesNAICS 335 | 5,398 | 369,456 | 3,293 |
| FurnitureNAICS 337 | 14,378 | 355,594 | 3,853 |
| Primary metalsNAICS 331 | 3,570 | 354,914 | 4,995 |
| PaperNAICS 322 | 3,813 | 351,485 | 3,268 |
| Beverages and tobaccoNAICS 312 | 12,577 | 291,105 | 1,589 |
| Petroleum and coal productsNAICS 324 | 2,073 | 100,856 | 7,311 |
| Textile productsNAICS 314 | 4,997 | 96,683 | 501 |
| Textile millsNAICS 313 | 1,703 | 79,765 | 1,490 |
| ApparelNAICS 315 | 4,337 | 63,163 | 353 |
| Leather goodsNAICS 316 | 986 | 22,970 | 386 |