Manufacturing in Delaware Runs 10% Above the National Cost Average

Delaware's manufacturing cost index stands at 110.3 against a national 100 as of August 2026 — labor at 111.1 and industrial energy at 107.9. That places it 39th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.

• composite (US = 100): 110.3
• labor: 111.1
• industrial energy: 107.9

The composite weights labor at 75% and industrial electricity at 25%, so Delaware's position is mostly a labor story: its labor component indexes at 111.1 against the national 100. A premium of 10 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.