OVERVIEW
An examination of the Manufacturing industry's compensation data. This data is backed by ERI's extensive research using industry salary survey data.
Manufacturing Industry's average salary is 1.00% higher than the US average
Description
Manufacturing
The manufacturing division includes establishments engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products. These establishments are usually described as plants, factories, or mills and characteristically use power driven machines and materials handling equipment. Establishments engaged in assembling component parts of manufactured products are also considered manufacturing if the new product is neither a structure nor other fixed improvement. Also included is the blending of materials, such as lubricating oils, plastics resins, or liquors. The materials processed by manufacturing establishments include products of agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and quarrying as well as products of other manufacturing establishments. The new product of a manufacturing establishment may be finished in the sense that it is ready for utilization or consumption, or it may be semifinished to become a raw material for an establishment engaged in further manufacturing. For example, the product of the copper smelter is the raw material used in electrolytic refineries; refined copper is the raw material used by copper wire mills; and copper wire is the raw material used by certain electrical equipment manufacturers. The materials used by manufacturing establishments may be purchased directly from producers, obtained through customary trade channels, or secured without recourse to the market by transferring the product from one establishment to another which is under the same ownership. Manufacturing production is usually carried on for the wholesale market, for interplant transfer, or to order for industrial users, rather than for direct sale to the domestic consumer. There are numerous borderline cases between manufacturing and other divisions of the classification system. Specific instances will be found in the descriptions of the individual industries. The following activities, although not always considered as manufacturing, are so classified: Milk bottling and pasteurizing; Fresh fish packaging (oyster shucking, fish filleting); Apparel jobbing (assigning of materials to contract factories or shops for fabrication or other contract operations) as well as contracting on materials owned by others; Publishing; Ready-mixed concrete production; Leather converting; Logging; Wood preserving; Various service industries to the manufacturing trade, such as typesetting, engraving, plate printing, and preparing electrotyping and stereotype plates, but not blueprinting or photocopying services; Electroplating, plating, metal heat treating, and polishing for the trade; Lapidary work for the trade; Fabricating of signs and advertising displays. There are also some manufacturing-type activities performed by establishments which are primarily engaged in activities covered by other divisions, and are, thus, not classified as manufacturing. A few of the more important examples are: Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing. Processing on farms is not considered manufacturing if the raw materials are grown on the farm and if the manufacturing activities are on a small scale without the extensive use of paid labor. Other exclusions are threshing and cotton ginning. Mining. The dressing and beneficiating of ores; the breaking, washing, and grading of coal; the crushing and breaking of stone; and the crushing, grinding, or otherwise preparing of sand, gravel, and nonmetallic chemical and fertilizer minerals other than barite are classified in Mining. Construction. Fabricating operations performed at the site of construction by contractors are not considered manufacturing, but the prefabrication of sheet metal, concrete, and terrazzo products and similar construction materials is included in the Manufacturing Division. Wholesale and Retail Trade. Establishments engaged in the following types of operations are included in Wholesale or Retail Trade: cutting and selling purchased carcasses; preparing feed at grain elevators and farm supply stores; stemming leaf tobacco at wholesale establishments; and production of wiping rags. The breaking of bulk and redistribution in smaller lots, including packaging, repackaging, or bottling products, such as liquors or chemicals, is also classified as Wholesale or Retail Trade. Also included in Retail Trade are establishments primarily engaged in selling, to the general public, products produced on the same premises from which they are sold, such as bakeries, candy stores, ice cream parlors, and custom tailors. Services. Tire retreading and rebuilding, sign painting and lettering shops, computer software production, and the production of motion picture films (including video tapes) are classified in Services. Most repair activities are classified as Services. However, some repair activity such as shipbuilding and boatbuilding and repair, the rebuilding of machinery and equipment on a factory basis, and machine shop repair are classified as manufacturing.
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Explore the Sub-Industries Under Manufacturing
Sub-Industries
Food and Beverage Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments that manufacture or process foods and beverages for human consumption, along with related products such as manufactured ice, chewing gum, vegetable and animal fats and oils, and prepared animal and poultry feeds. Dietetic products are classified the same as non-dietetic products, such as candy, canned fruits, or cookies.
Tobacco
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in manufacturing cigarettes, cigars, smoking and chewing tobacco, snuff, and reconstituted tobacco and in stemming and redrying tobacco, as well as non-tobacco cigarettes.
Textile Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in various textile operations, including the preparation of fiber and the subsequent manufacturing of yarn, thread, braids, twine and cordage. It also includes the manufacturing of broadwoven fabrics, narrow woven fabrics, knit fabrics and carpets and rugs from yarn. Additional activities include dyeing and finishing fiber, yarn, fabrics and knit apparel, coating, waterproofing or otherwise treating fabrics, the integrated manufacture of knit apparel and other finished articles from yarn, and the manufacture of felt goods, lace goods, non-woven fabrics and miscellaneous textiles. This classification includes both integrated mills that purchase materials, produce textiles and related articles within the establishment and sell the finished products, and contract or commission mills that process materials owned by others.
Apparel Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group, known as the cutting-up and needle trades, includes establishments that produce clothing and fabricate products by cutting and sewing purchased woven or knit textile fabrics and related materials such as leather, rubberized fabrics, plastics, and furs. It also includes establishments that manufacture clothing by cutting and joining materials like paper and non-woven textiles using methods such as adhesives. The apparel industries include three types of establishments—regular or inside factories, contract factories, and apparel jobbers. Regular factories perform all manufacturing functions within their own plant. Contract factories manufacture apparel using materials owned by others. Apparel jobbers handle the entrepreneurial aspects of a manufacturing company, including buying raw materials, designing and preparing samples, arranging for the production of clothing from their materials, and selling the finished apparel.
Lumber and Wood Products (except Furniture)
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in cutting timber and pulpwood, as well as merchant sawmills, lath mills, shingle mills, cooperage stock mills, planing mills, plywood mills, and veneer mills involved in producing lumber and wood-based materials. It also includes establishments engaged in manufacturing finished articles made entirely or mainly of wood or related materials. Woodworking related to construction, reconditioning and repair, or performed to individual order, is classified in nonmanufacturing industries. Establishments engaged in integrated operations that combine logging with sawmills, pulp mills, or other converting activities—where logging is not separately reported—are classified according to the primary product shipped.
Furniture And Fixture Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in manufacturing household, office, public building, and restaurant furniture as well as office and store fixtures.
Paper and Allied Products Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments primarily engaged in the manufacture of pulps from wood, other cellulose fibers, and rags, the manufacture of paper and paperboard, and the conversion of paper and paperboard into products such as paper coated off the paper machine, paper bags, paper boxes, and envelopes. It also includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing bags made from plastic film and sheet.
Publishing, Printing and Media
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in printing using one or more common processes, such as letterpress, lithography (including offset), gravure, or screen printing. It also includes establishments that provide services for the printing trade, such as bookbinding and platemaking. Additionally, this major group includes establishments involved in publishing newspapers, books, and periodicals, regardless of whether or not they handle their own printing. Establishments manufacturing products that contain incidental printing, such as advertising or instructions, are classified based on the nature of the products, for example, as cartons, bags, plastic film, or paper.
Chemical Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments producing basic chemicals and establishments manufacturing products by predominantly chemical processes. Establishments primarily engaged in packaging, repackaging, and bottling of purchased chemical products, but not engaged in manufacturing chemicals and allied products, are classified in wholesale or retail trade industries.
Petroleum Refining and Related Industries
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments primarily engaged in petroleum refining, manufacturing paving and roofing materials, and compounding lubricating oils and greases from purchased materials.
Plastic and Rubber Product Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments manufacturing products not elsewhere classified from plastic resins, gutta percha, balata, gutta siak, and natural, synthetic, or reclaimed rubber. Many products made from these materials are included in other groups.
Leather Product Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in tanning, currying, and finishing hides and skins, as well as leather converters. It also includes manufacturers of finished leather and artificial leather products, along with similar products made from other materials.
Glass, Cement, Stone and Concrete Production
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments involved in manufacturing flat glass, cement, structural clay products, pottery, concrete and gypsum products, cut stone, abrasive and asbestos products, and other items made primarily from earth materials such as stone, clay, and sand.
Primary Metals Production
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in smelting and refining ferrous and nonferrous metals from ore, pig, or scrap, as well as rolling, drawing, and alloying metals. It also covers the manufacturing of castings, basic metal products, nails, spikes, insulated wire and cable, and the production of coke.
Fabricated Metal Products Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in fabricating ferrous and nonferrous metal products, such as metal cans, tinware, hand tools, cutlery, general hardware, nonelectric heating apparatus, fabricated structural metal products, metal forgings, metal stampings, ordnance (excluding vehicles and guided missiles), and various other metal and wire products not classified elsewhere.
Machinery Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major industry group includes establishments engaged in the manufacturing of industrial and commercial machinery, equipment, and computers. It encompasses the production of engines and turbines, farm and garden machinery, construction, mining, and oil field machinery, as well as elevators, conveying equipment, hoists, cranes, monorails, and industrial trucks and tractors. Also included are metalworking machinery, specialized industry machinery, general industrial machinery, computer and peripheral equipment, office machinery, and refrigeration and service industry machinery. Machines powered by built-in or detachable motors generally fall within this category, with the exception of electrical household appliances. Additionally, power-driven hand tools, whether electrically or otherwise operated, are classified within this industry group.
Electrical Equipment Manufacturing (except Computer Equipment)
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in manufacturing machinery, apparatus, and supplies for the generation, storage, transmission, transformation, and utilization of electrical energy. Included are the manufacturing of electricity distribution equipment, electrical industrial apparatus, household appliances, electrical lighting and wiring equipment, radio and television receiving equipment, communications equipment, electronic components and accessories, and other electrical equipment and supplies.
Vehicle Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in manufacturing equipment for the transportation of passengers and cargo by land, air, and water.
Instrument Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments engaged in manufacturing instruments for measuring, testing, analyzing, and controlling, along with their associated sensors and accessories. It also includes the manufacturing of optical instruments and lenses, surveying and drafting instruments, hydrological, hydrographic, meteorological, and geophysical equipment, search, detection, navigation, and guidance systems, surgical, medical, and dental instruments, equipment, and supplies, ophthalmic goods, photographic equipment and supplies, and watches and clocks.
Specialty Products Manufacturing
Learn MoreThis major group includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing products not classified in any other manufacturing major group. Industries in this group include jewelry, silverware and plated ware, musical instruments, dolls, toys, games, sporting and athletic goods, pens, pencils and artists' materials, buttons, costume novelties and miscellaneous notions, brooms and brushes, caskets, and other miscellaneous manufacturing industries.
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