The US is the second largest manufacturing country in the world. This is due to its policies and regulations, transportation, infrastructure and innovation, cost considerations, and workforce.

In 2019, the US total manufacturing output was $2.34 billion. In 2020 the US exported $1.1 billion manufactured goods, accounting for 81.8% of all exports. These figures were lower than in previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of those manufacturing exports, small businesses exported nearly 97% of those goods. The top markets for exports are Canada, Mexico, China, Japan and the United Kingdom. The products that are produced most in the US are chemical products, computer and electronic products, food and beverage, motor vehicles and parts, and fabricated metal products.

In 2019, manufacturing accounted for 12.8 million jobs or 8.2% of the total US employment rate, with an output of $2.4 trillion and 11% of GDP for the country. The Midwest and the South are the regions where manufacturing is the most prominent, accounting for 39 of the 50 top cities for manufacturing in the US.

Many of them are small towns, such as Indiana’s Elkhart, Columbus, and Kokomo, but still manage to be national leaders. These three towns alone produced nearly $14.5 billion in output in 2019.

Among the large cities (500,000 or more residents), San Jose, California was the top exporting large city which had a manufacturing output of over $34 billion in 2019. Other large cities that are manufacturing leaders are Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wichita, Kansas, Toledo, Ohio, Durham, North Carolina, and Ogden, Utah.