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Manufacturing Compass

Rhode Island 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

Rhode Island manufacturing in 2025

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

Establishments

1,428

Worksites, annual average of quarterly counts

U.S.
399,936
Share of U.S.Calc
0.4%

Employment

39,249

Jobs, annual average of monthly counts

U.S.
12,579,906
Share of U.S.Calc
0.3%

Total wages

$3 billion

Nominal dollars, sum of four quarters

U.S.
$1.1 trillion
Share of U.S.Calc
0.3%

Average weekly wage

$1,450

Nominal dollars per job

U.S.
$1,721
vs. U.S.Calc
−15.7%

Average annual pay

$75,424

Nominal dollars per job

U.S.
$89,471
vs. U.S.Calc
−15.7%

Location quotient

0.97

Employment concentration vs. U.S.

U.S.
1.00

Manufacturing's share of all jobs in Rhode Island is 0.97 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.

  • 336Transportation equipment manufacturing
    Employment
    8,500
    Establishments
    56
    Avg. annual pay
    $80,347
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −18.9%
    Location quotient
    1.53
  • 332Fabricated metal product manufacturing
    Employment
    4,246
    Establishments
    202
    Avg. annual pay
    $66,587
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −12.8%
    Location quotient
    0.93
  • 311Food manufacturing
    Employment
    3,769
    Establishments
    182
    Avg. annual pay
    $54,617
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −13.9%
    Location quotient
    0.66
  • 339Miscellaneous manufacturing
    Employment
    3,641
    Establishments
    188
    Avg. annual pay
    $69,677
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −19.4%
    Location quotient
    1.86
  • 334Computer and electronic product manufacturing
    Employment
    3,332
    Establishments
    89
    Avg. annual pay
    $97,292
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −40.7%
    Location quotient
    1.04
  • 325Chemical manufacturing
    Employment
    2,555
    Establishments
    78
    Avg. annual pay
    $113,594
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −7.9%
    Location quotient
    0.89
  • 326Plastics and rubber products manufacturing
    Employment
    2,216
    Establishments
    51
    Avg. annual pay
    $70,174
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −1.1%
    Location quotient
    0.99
  • 333Machinery manufacturing
    Employment
    1,719
    Establishments
    96
    Avg. annual pay
    $76,284
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −16.0%
    Location quotient
    0.49
  • 313Textile mills
    Employment
    1,479
    Establishments
    34
    Avg. annual pay
    $65,235
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +3.6%
    Location quotient
    5.68
  • 323Printing and related support activities
    Employment
    1,437
    Establishments
    101
    Avg. annual pay
    $57,543
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −9.0%
    Location quotient
    1.30
  • 331Primary metal manufacturing
    Employment
    1,161
    Establishments
    45
    Avg. annual pay
    $75,746
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −18.9%
    Location quotient
    1.00
  • 322Paper manufacturing
    Employment
    1,011
    Establishments
    26
    Avg. annual pay
    $63,475
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −25.4%
    Location quotient
    0.90
  • 337Furniture and related product manufacturing
    Employment
    971
    Establishments
    56
    Avg. annual pay
    $74,514
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +20.0%
    Location quotient
    0.91
  • 335Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing
    Employment
    902
    Establishments
    38
    Avg. annual pay
    $99,075
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    +10.0%
    Location quotient
    0.65
  • 312Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing
    Employment
    719
    Establishments
    56
    Avg. annual pay
    $50,669
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −21.0%
    Location quotient
    0.68
  • 327Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing
    Employment
    665
    Establishments
    46
    Avg. annual pay
    $75,454
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −4.2%
    Location quotient
    0.50
  • 321Wood product manufacturing
    Employment
    341
    Establishments
    29
    Avg. annual pay
    $62,671
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −2.5%
    Location quotient
    0.26
  • 314Textile product mills
    Employment
    339
    Establishments
    33
    Avg. annual pay
    $52,300
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −8.5%
    Location quotient
    1.14
  • 315Apparel manufacturing
    Employment
    110
    Establishments
    13
    Avg. annual pay
    $41,306
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −30.8%
    Location quotient
    0.44
  • 324Petroleum and coal products manufacturing
    Employment
    70
    Establishments
    6
    Avg. annual pay
    $107,736
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −25.0%
    Location quotient
    0.20
  • 316Leather and allied product manufacturing
    Employment
    65
    Establishments
    4
    Avg. annual pay
    $48,840
    Pay vs. U.S.Calc
    −18.9%
    Location quotient
    0.86

03By year

Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island by year, annual averages, nominal dollars
YearEmploymentAvg. annual payvs. U.S.Calc
202240,174$66,927−15.8%
202340,390$69,174−16.2%
202439,858$71,956−15.8%
202539,249$75,424−15.7%

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