Manufacturing in Vermont Runs 10% Above the National Cost Average

Vermont's manufacturing cost index stands at 110.0 against a national 100 as of August 2026 — labor at 102.7 and industrial energy at 132.0. That places it 38th cheapest of 51 jurisdictions.

• composite (US = 100): 110.0
• labor: 102.7
• industrial energy: 132.0

The composite weights labor at 75% and industrial electricity at 25%, so Vermont's position is mostly an energy story: its energy component indexes at 132.0 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.