Skip to content
Manufacturing Compass

Nebraska manufacturing

Private-sector manufacturing (NAICS 31–33), annual average for 2022. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

01Core measures

Nebraska manufacturing in 2022

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

Establishments

2,085

Worksites, annual average of quarterly counts

U.S.
380,711
Share of U.S.Calc
0.5%

Employment

103,321

Jobs, annual average of monthly counts

U.S.
12,759,129
Share of U.S.Calc
0.8%

Total wages

$6.5 billion

Nominal dollars, sum of four quarters

U.S.
$1 trillion
Share of U.S.Calc
0.6%

Average weekly wage

$1,206

Nominal dollars per job

U.S.
$1,529
vs. U.S.Calc
−21.1%

Average annual pay

$62,729

Nominal dollars per job

U.S.
$79,483
vs. U.S.Calc
−21.1%

Location quotient

1.23

Employment concentration vs. U.S.

U.S.
1.00

Manufacturing's share of all jobs in Nebraska is 1.23 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.

  • 311Food manufacturing
    Employment
    39,836
    Establishments
    356
    Avg. annual pay
    $61,834
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +6.9%
    Location quotient
    3.59
  • 332Fabricated metal product manufacturing
    Employment
    9,502
    Establishments
    301
    Avg. annual pay
    $64,146
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −4.2%
    Location quotient
    1.02
  • 333Machinery manufacturing
    Employment
    9,254
    Establishments
    209
    Avg. annual pay
    $65,636
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −18.9%
    Location quotient
    1.28
  • 336Transportation equipment manufacturing
    Employment
    8,336
    Establishments
    91
    Avg. annual pay
    $61,311
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −27.2%
    Location quotient
    0.74
  • 325Chemical manufacturing
    Employment
    6,495
    Establishments
    138
    Avg. annual pay
    $80,724
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −26.5%
    Location quotient
    1.11
  • 339Miscellaneous manufacturing
    Employment
    5,418
    Establishments
    160
    Avg. annual pay
    $62,110
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −17.3%
    Location quotient
    1.32
  • 326Plastics and rubber products manufacturing
    Employment
    5,231
    Establishments
    79
    Avg. annual pay
    $56,448
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −11.9%
    Location quotient
    1.07
  • 334Computer and electronic product manufacturing
    Employment
    3,649
    Establishments
    62
    Avg. annual pay
    $66,785
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −54.5%
    Location quotient
    0.51
  • 323Printing and related support activities
    Employment
    2,995
    Establishments
    190
    Avg. annual pay
    $49,033
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −14.4%
    Location quotient
    1.21
  • 327Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing
    Employment
    2,928
    Establishments
    145
    Avg. annual pay
    $62,139
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −10.6%
    Location quotient
    1.08
  • 321Wood product manufacturing
    Employment
    2,457
    Establishments
    68
    Avg. annual pay
    $51,866
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −12.4%
    Location quotient
    0.88
  • 335Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing
    Employment
    1,536
    Establishments
    30
    Avg. annual pay
    $64,932
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −16.5%
    Location quotient
    0.58
  • 322Paper manufacturing
    Employment
    1,409
    Establishments
    18
    Avg. annual pay
    $59,726
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −22.1%
    Location quotient
    0.59
  • 337Furniture and related product manufacturing
    Employment
    1,368
    Establishments
    77
    Avg. annual pay
    $50,414
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −6.3%
    Location quotient
    0.55
  • 331Primary metal manufacturing
    Employment
    1,100
    Establishments
    15
    Avg. annual pay
    $99,158
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +18.5%
    Location quotient
    0.46
  • 312Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing
    Employment
    890
    Establishments
    73
    Avg. annual pay
    $28,749
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −50.2%
    Location quotient
    0.42
  • 316Leather and allied product manufacturing
    Employment
    400
    Establishments
    7
    Avg. annual pay
    $63,811
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +15.6%
    Location quotient
    2.29
  • 314Textile product mills
    Employment
    280
    Establishments
    43
    Avg. annual pay
    $40,347
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −19.1%
    Location quotient
    0.41
  • 313Textile mills
    Employment
    137
    Establishments
    10
    Avg. annual pay
    $38,315
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −30.1%
    Location quotient
    0.22
  • 315Apparel manufacturing
    Employment
    86
    Establishments
    11
    Avg. annual pay
    $37,774
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −29.4%
    Location quotient
    0.14
  • 324Petroleum and coal products manufacturing
    Employment
    17
    Establishments
    6
    Avg. annual pay
    $77,622
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −41.5%
    Location quotient
    0.02

03By year

Nebraska 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 Nebraska by year, annual averages, nominal dollars
YearEmploymentAvg. annual payvs. U.S.Calc
2022103,321$62,729−21.1%
2023104,762$64,059−22.4%
2024104,358$65,436−23.4%
2025102,692$66,955−25.2%

04About this data

Source, definitions, and limits

Source
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
File
data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2022/a/industry/31_33.csv
Retrieved
October 12, 2026 (UTC)
Period
Annual average, 2022 (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