North Carolina · NAICS 31-33 · Annual, 2025

Manufacturing in North Carolina

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

In 2025, Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33) employed about 461,400 people in North Carolina across roughly 11,635 establishments, with average annual pay of $78,210.

Employment in Manufacturing in North Carolina declined 20.4% from 2004 to 2025. Quarterly values, full industry detail and projections to 2036 for North Carolina are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.

  • 461,400Employment, 2025
  • 11,635Establishments
  • $78,210Avg. annual pay
  • 9.3%Share of North Carolina jobs
  • 1.15Location quotient

The 2025 figures above are a DTG estimate: Estimated · 1.00. † Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

Employment, 2004 to 2025

Annual average · all ownerships

Employment in Manufacturing in North Carolina, 2004–2025Line chart of annual employment from 2004 to 2025, from 579,900 to 461,400.0200K400K600K20042010201520202025

Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 579,900; 2005 569,100; 2006 553,500; 2007 538,100; 2008 515,400; 2009 448,400; 2010 431,600; 2011 434,800; 2012 439,600; 2013 442,500; 2014 448,700; 2015 461,000; 2016 464,600; 2017 467,300; 2018 474,900; 2019 477,100; 2020 452,600; 2021 464,000; 2022 473,300; 2023 469,600; 2024 465,100; 2025 461,400.

Last ten years

Annual · 10 years

YearEmploymentEstab.Avg. annual payChangeSource
2025461,37011,635$78,208 0.8%est. · 1.00
2024465,13111,477$74,559 0.9%pub.
2023469,55711,393$70,873 0.8%pub.
2022473,25410,920$67,973 2.0%pub.
2021464,00610,362$65,903 2.5%pub.
2020452,63710,303$63,281 5.1%pub.
2019477,08610,247$61,095 0.4%pub.
2018474,93210,219$59,827 1.6%pub.
2017467,30610,287$58,368 0.6%pub.
2016464,58510,265$56,651 0.8%pub.

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

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 Manufacturing61,43913.3%1.09pub.
312Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing14,0663.0%1.35pub.
313Textile Mills20,3214.4%7.88pub.
314Textile Product Mills5,1401.1%1.75pub.
315Apparel Manufacturing3,8500.8%1.54pub.
316Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing7260.2%0.96pub.
321Wood Product Manufacturing18,0123.9%1.41pub.
322Paper Manufacturing16,0633.5%1.44pub.
323Printing and Related Support Activities10,3192.2%0.94pub.
324Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing8720.2%0.25pub.
325Chemical Manufacturing47,75810.3%1.69pub.
326Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing35,2857.6%1.59pub.
327Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing15,2563.3%1.16pub.
331Primary Metal Manufacturing8,3011.8%0.72pub.
332Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing38,9608.4%0.86pub.
333Machinery Manufacturing39,1528.5%1.13pub.
334Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing25,6315.6%0.81pub.
335Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing24,7385.4%1.80pub.
336Transportation Equipment Manufacturing33,8657.3%0.60pub.
337Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing27,9466.1%2.64pub.
339Miscellaneous Manufacturing13,6723.0%0.70est. · 1.00

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

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 North Carolina, quarterly, at full depth

This page shows annual figures for manufacturing in North Carolina. 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.