Kentucky · NAICS 31-33 · Annual, 2025

Manufacturing in Kentucky

Employment, establishments and average pay for NAICS 31-33 in Kentucky, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.

In 2025, Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33) employed about 252,100 people in Kentucky across roughly 7,440 establishments, with average annual pay of $78,480.

Employment in Manufacturing in Kentucky grew 7.0% from 2020 to 2025. The industry is 1.6× as concentrated in Kentucky as in the nation as a whole (location quotient 1.56). Quarterly values, full industry detail and projections to 2036 for Kentucky are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.

  • 252,100Employment, 2025
  • 7,440Establishments
  • $78,480Avg. annual pay
  • 12.7%Share of Kentucky jobs
  • 1.56Location quotient

Employment, 2004 to 2025

Annual average · all ownerships

Employment in Manufacturing in Kentucky, 2004–2025Line chart of annual employment from 2004 to 2025, from 263,600 to 252,100.0100K200K300K20042010201520202025

Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 263,600; 2005 262,100; 2006 260,900; 2007 255,300; 2008 245,200; 2009 213,300; 2010 209,100; 2011 212,500; 2012 223,000; 2013 228,400; 2014 234,700; 2015 241,300; 2016 248,100; 2017 250,200; 2018 251,500; 2019 252,600; 2020 235,600; 2021 243,000; 2022 251,800; 2023 256,500; 2024 257,700; 2025 252,100.

Last ten years

Annual · 10 years

YearEmploymentEstab.Avg. annual payChangeSource
2025252,0777,440$78,484 2.2%pub.
2024257,6617,148$75,166 0.4%pub.
2023256,5156,701$71,119 1.9%pub.
2022251,7836,124$68,223 3.6%pub.
2021242,9635,447$64,132 3.1%pub.
2020235,5644,978$62,902 6.8%pub.
2019252,6264,583$61,167 0.5%pub.
2018251,4544,443$59,208 0.5%pub.
2017250,1804,368$58,143 0.9%pub.
2016248,0614,461$57,050 2.8%pub.

The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.

By subsector, 2025

3-digit NAICS · 21 shown

CodeSubsectorEmploymentShare of manufacturingLQSource
311Food Manufacturing31,27312.4%1.38pub.
312Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing11,9624.8%2.85pub.
313Textile Mills3890.1%0.37pub.
314Textile Product Mills1,1320.4%0.96pub.
315Apparel Manufacturing1,1060.4%1.10pub.
316Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing1150.1%0.38pub.
321Wood Product Manufacturing9,2643.7%1.80pub.
322Paper Manufacturing9,9343.9%2.21pub.
323Printing and Related Support Activities4,8021.9%1.08pub.
324Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing9950.4%0.71pub.
325Chemical Manufacturing12,5335.0%1.10pub.
326Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing16,1296.4%1.80pub.
327Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing7,0682.8%1.34pub.
331Primary Metal Manufacturing13,6395.4%2.95pub.
332Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing22,4888.9%1.23pub.
333Machinery Manufacturing19,7367.8%1.42pub.
334Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing3,0661.2%0.24pub.
335Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing12,8195.1%2.32pub.
336Transportation Equipment Manufacturing63,55425.2%2.80pub.
337Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing3,7211.5%0.87pub.
339Miscellaneous Manufacturing6,3522.5%0.81pub.

Where these numbers come from

Reading these figures

The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Where QCEW withheld a value, the marked figure is an estimate that DTG produced under the constraints of the published record; suppression is a property of QCEW, not of DTG, and a withheld value is marked rather than silently omitted. Two things DTG itself holds back, and says so where it does: an estimate that cannot be given a reliability score is not shown, and average pay is not shown where fewer than three jobs are reported. The row is marked withheld, with the reason in a note beneath the table. The mark is on every row that carries a value: the headline, the yearly history, the subsectors and the other states. An estimated value that rounds below one is shown as less than one, not as zero. Quarterly figures, county figures and projected years are in the app.

How this figure was built

Employment is the average of the three monthly counts in each quarter, averaged across the year, and establishments are averaged across the year the same way. Average annual pay is the year’s total wages divided by that average employment. Each of these is DTG’s value: QCEW’s published figure where QCEW disclosed it, and DTG’s estimate, marked, where it did not. How withheld values are estimated, and what the reliability score beside a figure means, are described on the industry data and disclosure and provenance pages.

Estimated by Data Tactical Group from BLS QCEW, with CES/SAE and projection inputs described in the methodology. Method: Disclosure, Industry.

Notes

Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.

Manufacturing in Kentucky, quarterly, at full depth

This page shows annual figures for manufacturing in Kentucky. A free account shows every detailed industry beneath it, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.

County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.