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Manufacturing Compass

Montana manufacturing

Private-sector manufacturing (NAICS 31–33), annual average for 2025. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

01Core measures

Montana manufacturing in 2025

Totals and averages for all private manufacturing employers in Montana combined. They describe the industry statewide, not any individual plant or company.

Establishments

1,846

Worksites, annual average of quarterly counts

U.S.
399,936
Share of U.S.Calc
0.5%

Employment

20,947

Jobs, annual average of monthly counts

U.S.
12,579,906
Share of U.S.Calc
0.2%

Total wages

$1.5 billion

Nominal dollars, sum of four quarters

U.S.
$1.1 trillion
Share of U.S.Calc
0.1%

Average weekly wage

$1,376

Nominal dollars per job

U.S.
$1,721
vs. U.S.Calc
−20.0%

Average annual pay

$71,543

Nominal dollars per job

U.S.
$89,471
vs. U.S.Calc
−20.0%

Location quotient

0.51

Employment concentration vs. U.S.

U.S.
1.00

Manufacturing's share of all jobs in Montana is 0.51 times its share of all U.S. jobs.

Calcmarks our calculations from BLS figures (formulas below). All other values are published by BLS.

02Subsectors

Where manufacturing jobs are

The 21 three-digit NAICS manufacturing subsectors, largest employment first. 2 are withheld by BLS (“Not disclosed”). Subsectors therefore may not add up to the manufacturing total.

  • 332Fabricated metal product manufacturing
    Employment
    2,820
    Establishments
    311
    Avg. annual pay
    $67,083
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −12.2%
    Location quotient
    0.60
  • 311Food manufacturing
    Employment
    2,492
    Establishments
    207
    Avg. annual pay
    $52,707
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −16.9%
    Location quotient
    0.43
  • 321Wood product manufacturing
    Employment
    2,252
    Establishments
    158
    Avg. annual pay
    $63,874
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −0.6%
    Location quotient
    1.70
  • 339Miscellaneous manufacturing
    Employment
    1,874
    Establishments
    188
    Avg. annual pay
    $56,877
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −34.2%
    Location quotient
    0.93
  • 312Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing
    Employment
    1,597
    Establishments
    136
    Avg. annual pay
    $34,557
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −46.1%
    Location quotient
    1.48
  • 324Petroleum and coal products manufacturing
    Employment
    1,528
    Establishments
    10
    Avg. annual pay
    $151,773
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +5.6%
    Location quotient
    4.25
  • 333Machinery manufacturing
    Employment
    1,445
    Establishments
    87
    Avg. annual pay
    $89,289
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −1.7%
    Location quotient
    0.40
  • 336Transportation equipment manufacturing
    Employment
    1,392
    Establishments
    72
    Avg. annual pay
    $80,511
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −18.8%
    Location quotient
    0.24
  • 327Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing
    Employment
    1,364
    Establishments
    102
    Avg. annual pay
    $77,729
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −1.3%
    Location quotient
    1.00
  • 325Chemical manufacturing
    Employment
    1,040
    Establishments
    73
    Avg. annual pay
    $78,020
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −36.8%
    Location quotient
    0.35
  • 323Printing and related support activities
    Employment
    797
    Establishments
    114
    Avg. annual pay
    $55,307
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −12.5%
    Location quotient
    0.70
  • 337Furniture and related product manufacturing
    Employment
    648
    Establishments
    127
    Avg. annual pay
    $58,822
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −5.3%
    Location quotient
    0.59
  • 334Computer and electronic product manufacturing
    Employment
    584
    Establishments
    107
    Avg. annual pay
    $100,835
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −38.5%
    Location quotient
    0.18
  • 326Plastics and rubber products manufacturing
    Employment
    433
    Establishments
    35
    Avg. annual pay
    $68,519
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −3.4%
    Location quotient
    0.19
  • 331Primary metal manufacturing
    Employment
    234
    Establishments
    11
    Avg. annual pay
    $66,683
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −28.6%
    Location quotient
    0.20
  • 335Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing
    Employment
    164
    Establishments
    33
    Avg. annual pay
    $76,486
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −15.1%
    Location quotient
    0.12
  • 314Textile product mills
    Employment
    157
    Establishments
    26
    Avg. annual pay
    $59,106
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +3.4%
    Location quotient
    0.51
  • 316Leather and allied product manufacturing
    Employment
    63
    Establishments
    23
    Avg. annual pay
    $34,663
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −42.4%
    Location quotient
    0.81
  • 315Apparel manufacturing
    Employment
    48
    Establishments
    22
    Avg. annual pay
    $25,288
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −57.7%
    Location quotient
    0.19
  • 322Paper manufacturing
    Employment
    Not disclosed
    Establishments
    3
    Avg. annual pay
    Not disclosed
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    —
    Location quotient
    Not disclosed
  • 313Textile mills
    Employment
    Not disclosed
    Establishments
    2
    Avg. annual pay
    Not disclosed
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    —
    Location quotient
    Not disclosed

03By year

Montana manufacturing, 2022–2025

Wages are in nominal dollars (not adjusted for inflation). BLS cautions that QCEW is not designed as a time series, so treat year-to-year differences as indicative.

Private manufacturing in Montana by year, annual averages, nominal dollars
YearEmploymentAvg. annual payvs. U.S.Calc
202221,967$61,599−22.5%
202321,685$65,076−21.2%
202421,411$68,803−19.5%
202520,947$71,543−20.0%

04About this data

Source, definitions, and limits

Source
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
File
data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/31_33.csv
Retrieved
October 12, 2026 (UTC)
Period
Annual average, 2025 (final BLS data)
Industry
NAICS 2022, sector 31–33 and its three-digit subsectors
Ownership
Private employers only
Geography
Statewide; compared with the U.S. total
Citation
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW).

What these numbers cover

  • Jobs reported to state unemployment insurance programs, about 95% of U.S. wage and salary jobs. Self-employed workers and proprietors are excluded; people with two jobs may be counted twice.
  • Averages describe all employers combined and do not represent any single manufacturer. Where a subsector has few establishments or jobs, its averages can swing widely and are less representative.
  • Not disclosed: BLS withheld the value to protect employer confidentiality. It is never shown as zero. No BLS data: BLS publishes no figures for that combination.

Calculations

  • Share of U.S. = state value ÷ U.S. value.
  • vs. U.S. = state value ÷ U.S. value − 1.
  • Both inputs come from the same BLS file: same year, industry, and ownership. Not calculated when either value is withheld (shown as —).
  • Location quotient is published by BLS: the industry's share of all local jobs (all industries and ownerships) divided by its share nationally.

Read our methodology