North Carolina energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in North Carolina

As of Jul 2026, industrial electricity in North Carolina runs 8.37 cents per kWh. That is 14.3% cheaper than the U.S. average and places the state 13 of 51 nationally.

Current prices in North Carolina

  • Industrial electricity: 8.37 cents per kWh (Jul 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in North Carolina typically pays: 10.73 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 7.59 per Mcf (Jul 2026), 65.7% above the national average.
  • Just below North Carolina on the price ladder: South Carolina at 7.84, Oklahoma at 8.16, North Dakota at 8.21 cents. Just above: West Virginia at 8.4, Alabama at 8.42, Kansas at 8.52 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 3,348 in electricity at North Carolina rates versus 3,908 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 16,740 versus 19,540, and at 200 kW it is 66,960 versus 78,160.
  • Energy is a genuine competitive advantage here: energy-intensive steps like heat treating, melting, and drying carry meaningfully lower unit cost in North Carolina than in most of the country, which strengthens make-versus-buy cases for keeping those operations in-house.

What factory labor pays in North Carolina

  • Industrial production managers: $60.55/hr median in North Carolina versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $47.74/hr median in North Carolina versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $33.48/hr median in North Carolina versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $30.02/hr median in North Carolina versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $29.36/hr median in North Carolina versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $26.56/hr median in North Carolina versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • North Carolina employs about 451,000 manufacturing workers as of Aug 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in North Carolina

  • North Carolina has 8,664 manufacturing establishments employing about 472,162 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (1,385), food manufacturing (765), furniture and related products (682), printing and related support (652), wood product manufacturing (558).

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 North Carolina observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-09-30.