State and Local Level Economic Census Data Show California Leads U.S. in Manufacturing Employment for 2012

Los Angeles Alone Has More Than 100,000 Manufacturing Employees

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2015 — Today the Census Bureau released manufacturing statistics from its 2012 Economic Census at the state, metro area and county levels, as well as for cities and towns, for more than 350 manufacturing industries. These data, referred to as the     Geographic Area Series, cover more than 296,000 U.S. manufacturing establishments (NAICS 31-33) within every state and their localities.

“These Geographic Area Series reports are the only source of detailed economic information for more than 15,000 cities, towns and other similar places in the U.S.,” Census Bureau Director John H. Thompson said. “We are pleased that over the course of this year, the Geographic Area Series will be providing for 18 sectors of the economy − economic information for the first time for more than 5,000 small towns. This unique data set is indispensable in assessing the performance of the economy in every corner of the country.”

An illustration of the geographic detail this series offers is provided by examining statistics for California, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area, and Los Angeles County and city. California had more manufacturing establishments (38,741) and employees (1.2 million) than any other state. The average annual payroll per employee for California manufacturing establishments rose 21.1 percent, from $49,187 in 2007 to $59,584 in 2012, while the value of shipments from the state’s manufacturing establishments increased 4.3 percent, from $491.4 billion in 2007 to $512.3 billion in 2012.

Within the manufacturing sector in California, the computer and electronic product manufacturing subsector (NAICS 334) was the largest employer with 177,603 employees. Within this subsector, at the 6-digit NAICS level, the radio and television broadcasting and wireless communications equipment manufacturing industry (NAICS 334220) led employment with 28,153 employees. The petroleum and coal products manufacturing subsector (NAICS 324) reported the highest value of industry shipments of any manufacturing subsector in the state, up 17.0 percent from $77.3 billion in 2007 to $90.5 billion in 2012.

More than 45 percent of the manufacturing establishments in California were located in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area (17,461); these establishments reported $211.1 billion in value of industry shipments in 2012. Los Angeles County was home to 12,760 of these establishments; they employed 359,532 people and reported $163.8 billion in shipments in 2012. California’s most populous city, Los Angeles, was home to 5,034 manufacturing establishments, employed 101,103 people and reported shipments of $43.5 billion in 2012.

Selected Findings for Other States

Connecticut manufacturers reported the highest average payroll per employee ($64,366) in 2012.
Texas ranked second and New York ranked third in the number of manufacturing establishments in 2012, with 19,782 and 16,475, respectively.
Michigan ranked among the top 10 states for number of establishments, annual payroll and total value of industry shipments in 2012.

Upcoming Manufacturing Data Releases

The 2012 Economic Census of Island Areas manufacturing data for Puerto Rico is scheduled to be released in late February. Also scheduled for release in late February is the 2013 Annual Survey of Manufactures statistics.

About the Economic Census

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts an economic census every five years and provides a comprehensive and detailed profile of the U.S. economy, covering millions of businesses representing more than 1,400 detailed industries and providing unique portraits of American industries and local communities. The Geographic Area Series reports include the most detailed information available from the Census Bureau about the U.S. economy, including statistics on the number of businesses, employment, annual payroll and sales.

Economic census statistics will be released over a two-year period, through June 2016. About 40 billion cells of data on U.S. businesses with paid employees will be released in total. Separate statistics for 2012 on the approximately 21 million businesses without paid employees are available via www.factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml.

While the economic census is the primary benchmark economic program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, data on the U.S. economy are also available in various Census Bureau monthly, quarterly and annual surveys.

For the manufacturing sector, these surveys include a monthly indicator — the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) survey — and the Annual Survey of Manufactures, but similar programs are also conducted for other economic sectors. These programs publish information similar to what is available from the economic census but at less detailed industry and geographic levels. For more information on the data available from these other surveys for a given industry, see the Industry Statistics Portal.

For more information on the Geographic Area Series, see the Economic Census Release Schedule.

To sign up for notifications for when data for the state you are interested in will be released, select the “GET EMAIL UPDATES” button on business.census.gov.

For information about the geographic areas covered by the economic census (including information on metro area changes and new economic places for 2012), see Understanding Geography on the economic census website.

The statistics presented in this release are based on data from the 2007 and 2012 Economic Census and include data only for establishments with paid employees. Statistics provided in the 2012 Economic Census Geographic Area Series data product releases supersede statistics previously released as part of the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series. All dollar values are expressed in current dollars relative to each survey year, i.e., they are not adjusted for price changes.

U.S. Census Bureau

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