Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: manufacturing / US states

US states by employer establishments: manufacturing

California had the highest employer establishments: manufacturing of 51 states in 2016, at 38,103. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 113. The median was 3,696 and the figure for the United States was 291,543. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest38,103California
Lowest113District of Columbia
Median3,69651 states
United States291,543History

Map of states, 2016

Alabama: 4,109 countAlaska: 532 countArizona: 4,291 countArkansas: 2,561 countCalifornia: 38,103 countColorado: 5,027 countConnecticut: 4,070 countDelaware: 564 countDistrict of Columbia: 113 countFlorida: 13,323 countGeorgia: 7,478 countHawaii: 779 countIdaho: 1,794 countIllinois: 13,381 countIndiana: 8,023 countIowa: 3,485 countKansas: 2,791 countKentucky: 3,696 countLouisiana: 3,209 countMaine: 1,660 countMaryland: 2,947 countMassachusetts: 6,528 countMichigan: 12,351 countMinnesota: 7,252 countMississippi: 2,141 countMissouri: 5,833 countMontana: 1,291 countNebraska: 1,772 countNevada: 1,838 countNew Hampshire: 1,799 countNew Jersey: 7,341 countNew Mexico: 1,352 countNew York: 15,728 countNorth Carolina: 8,739 countNorth Dakota: 727 countOhio: 14,000 countOklahoma: 3,416 countOregon: 5,493 countPennsylvania: 13,578 countRhode Island: 1,370 countSouth Carolina: 3,783 countSouth Dakota: 1,035 countTennessee: 5,724 countTexas: 19,649 countUtah: 3,340 countVermont: 1,015 countVirginia: 4,999 countWashington: 6,998 countWest Virginia: 1,163 countWisconsin: 8,791 countWyoming: 561 count
  • Under 1,200
  • 1,200 to 2,000
  • 2,000 to 3,700
  • 3,700 to 5,800
  • 5,800 to 8,800
  • 8,800 and over
count, 2016. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

California: 38,103 countCalifornia38,103Texas: 19,649 countTexas19,649New York: 15,728 countNew York15,728Ohio: 14,000 countOhio14,000Pennsylvania: 13,578 countPennsylvania13,578Illinois: 13,381 countIllinois13,381Florida: 13,323 countFlorida13,323Michigan: 12,351 countMichigan12,351Wisconsin: 8,791 countWisconsin8,791North Carolina: 8,739 countNorth Carolina8,739Indiana: 8,023 countIndiana8,023Georgia: 7,478 countGeorgia7,478New Jersey: 7,341 countNew Jersey7,341Minnesota: 7,252 countMinnesota7,252Washington: 6,998 countWashington6,998Massachusetts: 6,528 countMassachusetts6,528Missouri: 5,833 countMissouri5,833Tennessee: 5,724 countTennessee5,724Oregon: 5,493 countOregon5,493Colorado: 5,027 countColorado5,027Virginia: 4,999 countVirginia4,999Arizona: 4,291 countArizona4,291Alabama: 4,109 countAlabama4,109Connecticut: 4,070 countConnecticut4,070South Carolina: 3,783 countSouth Carolina3,783Kentucky: 3,696 countKentucky3,696Iowa: 3,485 countIowa3,485Oklahoma: 3,416 countOklahoma3,416Utah: 3,340 countUtah3,340Louisiana: 3,209 countLouisiana3,209Maryland: 2,947 countMaryland2,947Kansas: 2,791 countKansas2,791Arkansas: 2,561 countArkansas2,561Mississippi: 2,141 countMississippi2,141Nevada: 1,838 countNevada1,838New Hampshire: 1,799 countNew Hampshire1,799Idaho: 1,794 countIdaho1,794Nebraska: 1,772 countNebraska1,772Maine: 1,660 countMaine1,660Rhode Island: 1,370 countRhode Island1,370New Mexico: 1,352 countNew Mexico1,352Montana: 1,291 countMontana1,291West Virginia: 1,163 countWest Virginia1,163South Dakota: 1,035 countSouth Dakota1,035Vermont: 1,015 countVermont1,015Hawaii: 779 countHawaii779North Dakota: 727 countNorth Dakota727Delaware: 564 countDelaware564Wyoming: 561 countWyoming561Alaska: 532 countAlaska532District of Columbia: 113 countDistrict of Columbia113California: 38,103 countCalifornia38,103Texas: 19,649 countTexas19,649New York: 15,728 countNew York15,728Ohio: 14,000 countOhio14,000Pennsylvania: 13,578 countPennsylvania13,578Illinois: 13,381 countIllinois13,381Florida: 13,323 countFlorida13,323Michigan: 12,351 countMichigan12,351Wisconsin: 8,791 countWisconsin8,791North Carolina: 8,739 countNorth Carolina8,739Indiana: 8,023 countIndiana8,023Georgia: 7,478 countGeorgia7,478New Jersey: 7,341 countNew Jersey7,341Minnesota: 7,252 countMinnesota7,252Washington: 6,998 countWashington6,998Massachusetts: 6,528 countMassachusetts6,528Missouri: 5,833 countMissouri5,833Tennessee: 5,724 countTennessee5,724Oregon: 5,493 countOregon5,493Colorado: 5,027 countColorado5,027Virginia: 4,999 countVirginia4,999Arizona: 4,291 countArizona4,291Alabama: 4,109 countAlabama4,109Connecticut: 4,070 countConnecticut4,070South Carolina: 3,783 countSouth Carolina3,783Kentucky: 3,696 countKentucky3,696Iowa: 3,485 countIowa3,485Oklahoma: 3,416 countOklahoma3,416Utah: 3,340 countUtah3,340Louisiana: 3,209 countLouisiana3,209Maryland: 2,947 countMaryland2,947Kansas: 2,791 countKansas2,791Arkansas: 2,561 countArkansas2,561Mississippi: 2,141 countMississippi2,141Nevada: 1,838 countNevada1,838New Hampshire: 1,799 countNew Hampshire1,799Idaho: 1,794 countIdaho1,794Nebraska: 1,772 countNebraska1,772Maine: 1,660 countMaine1,660Rhode Island: 1,370 countRhode Island1,370New Mexico: 1,352 countNew Mexico1,352Montana: 1,291 countMontana1,291West Virginia: 1,163 countWest Virginia1,163South Dakota: 1,035 countSouth Dakota1,035Vermont: 1,015 countVermont1,015Hawaii: 779 countHawaii779North Dakota: 727 countNorth Dakota727Delaware: 564 countDelaware564Wyoming: 561 countWyoming561Alaska: 532 countAlaska532District of Columbia: 113 countDistrict of Columbia113
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2016
count		Change on 2015
1California38,103-1.1%
2Texas19,649-0.6%
3New York15,728-1.5%
4Ohio14,000-1%
5Pennsylvania13,578-0.6%
6Illinois13,381-0.7%
7Florida13,323+1.6%
8Michigan12,351-0.7%
9Wisconsin8,791-0.3%
10North Carolina8,7390%
11Indiana8,023+0.4%
12Georgia7,478+0.6%
13New Jersey7,341-1%
14Minnesota7,252-0.8%
15Washington6,998-0.3%
16Massachusetts6,528-0.2%
17Missouri5,833-1.3%
18Tennessee5,724+1.4%
19Oregon5,493+1.1%
20Colorado5,027-0.3%
21Virginia4,999+0.3%
22Arizona4,291+0.5%
23Alabama4,109-1.2%
24Connecticut4,070-1.6%
25South Carolina3,783+0.9%
26Kentucky3,696+0.1%
27Iowa3,485-1.1%
28Oklahoma3,416-2.7%
29Utah3,340+1.6%
30Louisiana3,209-2%
31Maryland2,947-0.7%
32Kansas2,791-0.9%
33Arkansas2,561-1.7%
34Mississippi2,141+1.1%
35Nevada1,838+2.5%
36New Hampshire1,799+0.6%
37Idaho1,794+2.3%
38Nebraska1,772-0.7%
39Maine1,660-0.1%
40Rhode Island1,370-1.9%
41New Mexico1,352-0.4%
42Montana1,291+1.2%
43West Virginia1,163-2.8%
44South Dakota1,035-0.3%
45Vermont1,015+1.5%
46Hawaii779+2%
47North Dakota727-4.1%
48Delaware564-3.3%
49Wyoming561-2.4%
50Alaska532-0.6%
51District of Columbia113+11.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of establishments with paid employees in manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), from the U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns.

County Business Patterns: establishments (single physical locations, not firms) with paid employees during the pay period including 12 March. Excludes the self-employed and businesses without employees (nonemployer_establishments_*), government employers, crop and animal production, rail transportation, the Postal Service and private households. Establishment counts are not perturbed; the noise Census adds since 2017 applies to employment and payroll, which are not served here. Published about 18 months after the reference year.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2018). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: manufacturing, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: manufacturing, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 19 Apr. 2018, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-manufacturing/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: manufacturing, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-manufacturing/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: manufacturing, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-manufacturing/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: manufacturing, 2016}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-manufacturing/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: manufacturing, 2016
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/04/19
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-manufacturing/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-manufacturing/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: manufacturing?

California, with 38,103 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: manufacturing?

District of Columbia, with 113 in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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