Manufacturing in Hawaii Runs 96% Above the National Cost Average
Hawaii's manufacturing cost index stands at 195.7 against a national 100 as of July 2026 — labor at 126.7 and industrial energy at 402.6. That places it 51th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.
Hawaii's manufacturing cost index stands at 195.7 against a national 100 as of July 2026 — labor at 126.7 and industrial energy at 402.6. That places it 51th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.
composite (US = 100): 195.7
labor: 126.7
industrial energy: 402.6
The composite weights labor at 75% and industrial electricity at 25%, so Hawaii's position is mostly a energy story: its energy component indexes at 402.6 against the national 100. A premium of 96 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.