Manufacturing in New Jersey Runs 22% Above the National Cost Average

New Jersey's manufacturing cost index stands at 122.2 against a national 100 as of August 2026 — labor at 106.8 and industrial energy at 168.5. That places it 43rd cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.

• composite (US = 100): 122.2
• labor: 106.8
• industrial energy: 168.5

The composite weights labor at 75% and industrial electricity at 25%, so New Jersey's position is mostly an energy story: its energy component indexes at 168.5 against the national 100. A premium of 22 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.