Manufacturing in California Runs 45% Above the National Cost Average

California's manufacturing cost index stands at 144.6 against a national 100 as of August 2026 — labor at 109.4 and industrial energy at 250.2. That places it 49th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.

• composite (US = 100): 144.6
• labor: 109.4
• industrial energy: 250.2

The composite weights labor at 75% and industrial electricity at 25%, so California's position is mostly an energy story: its energy component indexes at 250.2 against the national 100. A premium of 45 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.