Ohio energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Ohio

Ohio plants pay 9.75 cents per kWh for industrial power as of Aug 2026, which puts the state 1.1% over the national average and 28 of 51 in the country, counting from the cheapest.

Current prices in Ohio

  • Industrial electricity: 9.75 cents per kWh (Aug 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Ohio typically pays: 12.31 cents per kWh.
  • Ohio does not report an industrial natural gas price for the latest month; plants there should use their utility contract rate.
  • Just below Ohio on the price ladder: South Dakota at 9.43, Idaho at 9.71, Arizona at 9.73 cents. Just above: Missouri at 9.89, Minnesota at 9.96, Colorado at 9.98 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about $3,900 in electricity at Ohio rates versus $3,856 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is $19,500 versus $19,280, and at 200 kW it is $78,000 versus $77,120.
  • Ohio sits mid-pack for power cost, so energy is neither a site-selection advantage nor a penalty. Estimates built on national averages will land close here, though demand charges and rate schedules still swing the real bill.

Cost to manufacture in Ohio

  • Ohio scores 98.0 on the MFG Calcs State Cost-to-Manufacture Index, where the U.S. is 100: the 22nd lowest of 51 (Aug 2026).
  • Its labor factor (manufacturing wages) is 97.0 and its energy factor (industrial electricity) 101.1; the index weighs wages at 75% and electricity at 25% and leaves out taxes, land and incentives.

What factory labor pays in Ohio

  • Industrial production managers: $52.57/hr median in Ohio versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $48.10/hr median in Ohio versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $34.69/hr median in Ohio versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $31.31/hr median in Ohio versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $29.94/hr median in Ohio versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $27.86/hr median in Ohio versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).

Manufacturing jobs in Ohio

  • Ohio had 682,700 manufacturing jobs in Sep 2026, the 3rd most of 51 (BLS State and Metro Area Employment, not seasonally adjusted).
  • That is up 1.6% from Sep 2025.

Manufacturing base in Ohio

  • Ohio has 13,307 manufacturing establishments employing about 689,133 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Average pay per manufacturing employee is $69,434, 5% below the U.S. average of $73,202.
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (3,224), machinery manufacturing (1,369), machine shops (1,112), food manufacturing (1,011), printing and related support (910).

Manufacturing economy in Ohio

  • Manufacturing added $133B to Ohio's economy in 2025, 13.6% of the state's GDP, the 4th largest of the 50 states and DC (BEA).

Sources and update cadence

  • Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, jobs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, establishments and payroll from the Census Bureau and GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis; each refreshes automatically when the agency publishes, and this page archives every month and year it shows so the Ohio history keeps deepening.

Last reviewed 2026-11-13.