Reinventing Manufacturing

California’s Shifting Landscape: Manufacturing and the Innovation Ecosystem
Manufacturing Wages
in California
While total manufacturing employment in 2014 was
39.5 percent below where it was in 1990, inflationadjusted
average annual wages were 42.0 percent
higher. Between 1990 and 2014, average annual
incomes in manufacturing increased at a faster rate
than the economy as a whole, where incomes rose by
23.6 percent. This suggests that the structural shifts that
have taken place in manufacturing over the last several
decades have resulted in the need for fewer but more
highly qualified workers.
California’s manufacturing jobs offer solid incomes.
As a whole, average annual incomes of $80,000
were reported in manufacturing in 2014. With 2014
average annual incomes across the economy ranging
from $20,000 in Accommodation & Food Services to
$133,000 in Information, manufacturing jobs tend to
fall at the upper end of the wage spectrum.
California Average Annual Earnings Trends
Total vs. Manufacturing Wages (Inflation Adjusted)
Indexed to Wage Levels in 1990
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
All Industries
Manufacturing
Data Source: Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages, California EDD
Analysis: Bay Area Council Economic Institute
California Average Annual Earnings by Industry, 2014
$160,000
$120,000
$80,000
$40,000
0
Data Source: Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages, California EDD
Analysis: Bay Area Council Economic Institute
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