Manufacturing in District of Columbia Runs 74% Above the National Cost Average
District of Columbia's manufacturing cost index stands at 174.4 against a national 100 as of July 2026 — labor at 122.8 and industrial energy at 329.1. That places it 50th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.
District of Columbia's manufacturing cost index stands at 174.4 against a national 100 as of July 2026 — labor at 122.8 and industrial energy at 329.1. That places it 50th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.
composite (US = 100): 174.4
labor: 122.8
industrial energy: 329.1
The composite weights labor at 75% and industrial electricity at 25%, so District of Columbia's position is mostly a energy story: its energy component indexes at 329.1 against the national 100. A premium of 74 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.