Vermont energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Vermont

Vermont plants pay 12.72 cents per kWh for industrial power as of Aug 2026, which puts the state 32% over the national average and 40 of 51 in the country, counting from the cheapest.

Current prices in Vermont

  • Industrial electricity: 12.72 cents per kWh (Aug 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Vermont typically pays: 20.47 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: $4.41 per Mcf (Aug 2026), 1.6% above the national average.
  • Just below Vermont on the price ladder: Wisconsin at 10.88, Illinois at 11.33, Maryland at 12.19 cents. Just above: Georgia at 13.05, Maine at 14.24, Connecticut at 16.18 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about $5,088 in electricity at Vermont rates versus $3,856 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is $25,440 versus $19,280, and at 200 kW it is $101,760 versus $77,120.
  • At this rate, efficiency projects clear their hurdle faster in Vermont than almost anywhere: every avoided kWh is worth more, so compressed air leak repairs, VFD retrofits, and scheduling around demand charges deserve a fresh look.

Cost to manufacture in Vermont

  • Vermont scores 110.0 on the MFG Calcs State Cost-to-Manufacture Index, where the U.S. is 100: the 38th lowest of 51 (Aug 2026).
  • Its labor factor (manufacturing wages) is 102.7 and its energy factor (industrial electricity) 132.0; the index weighs wages at 75% and electricity at 25% and leaves out taxes, land and incentives.

What factory labor pays in Vermont

  • Industrial production managers: $54.88/hr median in Vermont versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $49.52/hr median in Vermont versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $36.32/hr median in Vermont versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $33.32/hr median in Vermont versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $30.37/hr median in Vermont versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $30.14/hr median in Vermont versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).

Manufacturing jobs in Vermont

  • Vermont had 28,000 manufacturing jobs in Sep 2026, the 45th most of 51 (BLS State and Metro Area Employment, not seasonally adjusted).
  • That is up 2.2% from Sep 2025.

Manufacturing base in Vermont

  • Vermont has 1,005 manufacturing establishments employing about 29,246 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Average pay per manufacturing employee is $64,669, 12% below the U.S. average of $73,202.
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: food manufacturing (209), fabricated metal products (98), wood product manufacturing (91), furniture and related products (57), machinery manufacturing (54).

Manufacturing economy in Vermont

  • Manufacturing added $3.9B to Vermont's economy in 2025, 7.8% of the state's GDP, the 48th 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 Vermont history keeps deepening.

Last reviewed 2026-11-13.