Texas Manufacturing Facts

* Manufacturing matters to the Texas economy. More than 1 million Texans work in the manufacturing sector, accounting for 11 percent of the state's nonagricultural employment.

* Manufacturing contributes to the state's growth. Texas gained more manufacturing jobs than any other state in the 1990s.  By 2001, Texas manufacturing employment exceeded 1990 levels by more than 60,000 jobs.

* Since 1990, Texas has surpassed Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio to become the second largest state in the country ranked by manufacturing employment.

* The "value added by manufacture" in Texas exceeded $131 billion in 1999, the most recent year available. Texas overtook Ohio in 1994 to become the second ranking state in this important manufacturing measure.

* The value of Texas manufacturing shipments reached $302 billion in 1999-more than any other state except California.

* The overwhelming majority of manufacturers are small to mid-sized businesses. Nearly 99 percent of the state's 22,000 manufacturing establishments employ fewer than 500 workers. Collectively, these smaller manufacturers provide two-thirds of the manufacturing sector's jobs.

* Companies have invested heavily to improve their manufacturing capacity in Texas. New capital expenditures totaled $12.5 billion in 1999-greater than New York and Pennsylvania combined.

* Manufacturing provides good-paying jobs. Payroll per employee in manufacturing is 20% higher than the Texas average for all industries. One of every seven payroll dollars in Texas is paid in the manufacturing sector.

* Manufacturing is important to the nation's trade position. Manufactured goods accounted for 95 percent of total Texas merchandise exports in 2000.

* Texas exports of manufactured goods reached $112 billion in 2000, up 23% from the previous year.

* Texas ranks second among the states, after California, in the value of manufactured exports.

Last Updated on 3/8/02 by the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (www.tmac.org).

Sources: Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 1999 and Annual Survey of Manufactures 1999; Texas Workforce Commission, Labor Market Information; Texas Economic Development, Highlights of 2000 Texas.