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Manufacturing Compass

New Jersey 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

New Jersey manufacturing in 2025

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

Establishments

9,684

Worksites, annual average of quarterly counts

U.S.
399,936
Share of U.S.Calc
2.4%

Employment

249,940

Jobs, annual average of monthly counts

U.S.
12,579,906
Share of U.S.Calc
2%

Total wages

$26.2 billion

Nominal dollars, sum of four quarters

U.S.
$1.1 trillion
Share of U.S.Calc
2.3%

Average weekly wage

$2,017

Nominal dollars per job

U.S.
$1,721
vs. U.S.Calc
+17.2%

Average annual pay

$104,878

Nominal dollars per job

U.S.
$89,471
vs. U.S.Calc
+17.2%

Location quotient

0.72

Employment concentration vs. U.S.

U.S.
1.00

Manufacturing's share of all jobs in New Jersey is 0.72 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.

  • 325Chemical manufacturing
    Employment
    47,966
    Establishments
    1,091
    Avg. annual pay
    $175,828
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +42.5%
    Location quotient
    1.95
  • 311Food manufacturing
    Employment
    43,231
    Establishments
    1,465
    Avg. annual pay
    $63,913
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +0.8%
    Location quotient
    0.89
  • 334Computer and electronic product manufacturing
    Employment
    25,596
    Establishments
    762
    Avg. annual pay
    $134,670
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −17.9%
    Location quotient
    0.93
  • 332Fabricated metal product manufacturing
    Employment
    21,022
    Establishments
    1,106
    Avg. annual pay
    $82,289
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +7.8%
    Location quotient
    0.54
  • 339Miscellaneous manufacturing
    Employment
    16,473
    Establishments
    904
    Avg. annual pay
    $120,231
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +39.1%
    Location quotient
    0.98
  • 326Plastics and rubber products manufacturing
    Employment
    14,563
    Establishments
    358
    Avg. annual pay
    $81,247
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +14.5%
    Location quotient
    0.76
  • 333Machinery manufacturing
    Employment
    12,928
    Establishments
    698
    Avg. annual pay
    $96,548
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +6.3%
    Location quotient
    0.43
  • 323Printing and related support activities
    Employment
    10,915
    Establishments
    770
    Avg. annual pay
    $74,451
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +17.7%
    Location quotient
    1.15
  • 327Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing
    Employment
    9,679
    Establishments
    358
    Avg. annual pay
    $83,895
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +6.6%
    Location quotient
    0.85
  • 322Paper manufacturing
    Employment
    7,737
    Establishments
    186
    Avg. annual pay
    $81,649
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −4.1%
    Location quotient
    0.80
  • 337Furniture and related product manufacturing
    Employment
    7,158
    Establishments
    398
    Avg. annual pay
    $70,514
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +13.5%
    Location quotient
    0.78
  • 335Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing
    Employment
    6,444
    Establishments
    282
    Avg. annual pay
    $83,967
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −6.7%
    Location quotient
    0.54
  • 336Transportation equipment manufacturing
    Employment
    5,493
    Establishments
    174
    Avg. annual pay
    $86,626
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −12.6%
    Location quotient
    0.12
  • 312Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing
    Employment
    5,222
    Establishments
    320
    Avg. annual pay
    $64,000
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −0.2%
    Location quotient
    0.58
  • 331Primary metal manufacturing
    Employment
    3,424
    Establishments
    122
    Avg. annual pay
    $93,393
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    0.0%
    Location quotient
    0.34
  • 315Apparel manufacturing
    Employment
    3,001
    Establishments
    148
    Avg. annual pay
    $51,333
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −14.0%
    Location quotient
    1.38
  • 321Wood product manufacturing
    Employment
    2,863
    Establishments
    213
    Avg. annual pay
    $62,299
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −3.1%
    Location quotient
    0.26
  • 324Petroleum and coal products manufacturing
    Employment
    2,644
    Establishments
    55
    Avg. annual pay
    $153,354
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +6.7%
    Location quotient
    0.88
  • 314Textile product mills
    Employment
    2,346
    Establishments
    146
    Avg. annual pay
    $70,811
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +23.9%
    Location quotient
    0.92
  • 313Textile mills
    Employment
    904
    Establishments
    88
    Avg. annual pay
    $77,148
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +22.5%
    Location quotient
    0.40
  • 316Leather and allied product manufacturing
    Employment
    333
    Establishments
    39
    Avg. annual pay
    $65,747
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +9.2%
    Location quotient
    0.51

03By year

New Jersey 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 New Jersey by year, annual averages, nominal dollars
YearEmploymentAvg. annual payvs. U.S.Calc
2022248,699$92,595+16.5%
2023252,317$96,445+16.8%
2024253,006$99,560+16.5%
2025249,940$104,878+17.2%

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