Market Wire

Manufacturing in Alaska Runs 86% Above the National Cost Average

Alaska's manufacturing cost index stands at 186.3 against a national 100 as of May 2026 — labor at 128.4 and industrial energy at 360.0. That places it 50th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.

Alaska's manufacturing cost index stands at 186.3 against a national 100 as of May 2026 — labor at 128.4 and industrial energy at 360.0. That places it 50th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.

• composite (US = 100): 186.3
• labor: 128.4
• industrial energy: 360.0

The composite weights labor at 75% and industrial electricity at 25%, so Alaska's position is mostly a energy story: its energy component indexes at 360.0 against the national 100. A premium of 86 points compounds differently across shops — a labor-heavy job shop feels the labor line, an energy-hungry process plant feels the kilowatt-hours.

For a site decision the index is the starting point, not the answer: freight to customers, workforce depth, and incentives move individual cases. The per-state page carries the underlying wage and electricity series this index is built from, both refreshed automatically.

Published 2026-08-26.