Iowa energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Iowa

As of Jul 2026, industrial electricity in Iowa runs 9.99 cents per kWh. That is 2.3% more expensive than the U.S. average and places the state 28 of 51 nationally.

Current prices in Iowa

  • Industrial electricity: 9.99 cents per kWh (Jul 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Iowa typically pays: 13.27 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 5.6 per Mcf (Jul 2026), 22.3% above the national average.
  • Just below Iowa on the price ladder: Michigan at 9.81, South Dakota at 9.83, Missouri at 9.87 cents. Just above: Nebraska at 10, Georgia at 10.03, Nevada at 10.04 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 3,996 in electricity at Iowa rates versus 3,908 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 19,980 versus 19,540, and at 200 kW it is 79,920 versus 78,160.
  • With rates near the national middle, Iowa plants can use U.S.-average defaults for rough estimates, then refine against the utility tariff. The bigger lever is usually consumption, not the rate.

What factory labor pays in Iowa

  • Industrial production managers: $51.21/hr median in Iowa versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $46.96/hr median in Iowa versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $35.94/hr median in Iowa versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $31.25/hr median in Iowa versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $30.96/hr median in Iowa versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $27.66/hr median in Iowa versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Iowa employs about 215,000 manufacturing workers as of Aug 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in Iowa

  • Iowa has 3,418 manufacturing establishments employing about 224,293 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (577), food manufacturing (503), machinery manufacturing (375), printing and related support (284), chemical manufacturing (202).

Sources and update cadence

  • Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and refresh automatically when the agency publishes; this page also archives each month's Iowa observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-09-30.