Executive Summary
The Bay Area is well known for its tech industry, but the role of manufacturing in the region’s economy is often overlooked. The long-term decline in manufacturing across many parts of the U.S. has affected California and the Bay Area as well, but the sector remains an important part of the regional economy. Manufacturing employment in the Bay Area grew substantially following the Great Recession before falling sharply in 2024. Currently, almost one in ten (9%) Bay Area workers—over 310,200 in all—are employed in manufacturing.
The Bay Area manufacturing sector includes an array of industries with products ranging from food, beverages, computer and electronic products, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and everything in between. Manufacturing businesses in the Bay Area may produce products locally or design products manufactured elsewhere in the U.S. or around the world. Jobs in the sector range from office and administrative support to production and assembly to engineering and software development.
About four out of ten (44%), or 154,900, Bay Area manufacturing jobs are blue-collar, meaning they typically do not require a college degree. Historically, blue-collar manufacturing jobs played an important role in reducing economic inequality in the U.S. by providing living wages and benefits to workers who didn’t necessarily attend college (Hersch and Weller 2003). Industrial policies to revitalize American manufacturing and create “good” manufacturing jobs are often targeted at expanding opportunities in these occupations. Our report seeks to understand: What kinds of manufacturing jobs are blue-collar workers performing in the Bay Area? What are the demographic characteristics of the people holding these jobs? And what is the quality of these jobs? How does job quality vary throughout the manufacturing sector and how does it compare to that of the overall Bay Area labor market?
Our report pays particular attention to the jobs that are most typically associated with manufacturing and are involved with day-to-day production, assembly, maintenance, repair, and logistics. Classified as “production and related occupations” in government data, we have shortened this to “production+” jobs. We find that the Bay Area has a significant and diverse presence of blue-collar production+ manufacturing employment, but that these jobs are no longer the pathway to financial stability that they once were for many workers. Only about three out of ten (32%) production+ workers are paid enough to support a family of two full-time working adults and one child. We also find that Hispanic, female, younger, and foreign-born workers in these jobs are even less likely to be paid a living wage. And a large majority—over eight out of ten (84%)—are workers of color.
Our report uses publicly available data from 2022 to 2024 sourced from the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics. The analysis focuses on private-sector manufacturing in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Additionally, where we analyze worker demographics and county- and industry-level blue-collar workforce data, we restrict our sample to employed individuals aged 16-64 reporting non-zero earnings. See our methodological appendix for details.
Key findings include:
- Manufacturing is a critical sector of the Bay Area economy, with more than 7,000 manufacturing establishments and almost one in ten (9%), or over 310,200, people working in the sector across a variety of industries.
- Two out of three (69%) manufacturing jobs are in Santa Clara or Alameda Counties; several smaller counties like Solano and Napa have fewer manufacturing workers overall, but a double digit share of manufacturing employment. Each county has its own mix of manufacturing specialties.
- Top employing manufacturing industries, making up about 80% of the sector’s employment in the Bay, are computer and electronic products; transportation equipment; food, beverage and tobacco products; machinery; chemical (e.g., pharmaceuticals); and fabricated metal.
- We classify about four out of ten (44%), or 154,900, Bay Area manufacturing jobs as blue-collar, based primarily on whether BLS identifies a four-year degree as typically required for entry.
- Production+ jobs make up the largest share of blue-collar manufacturing jobs. About three out of ten manufacturing workers, or about 106,300, are in production+ jobs. Blue-collar service positions make up one in ten manufacturing jobs, and only about four out of one hundred workers are in blue-collar managerial roles.
- Most production+ jobs (65%) are in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties, with each employing over 33,000 workers. However, the share of the manufacturing workforce performing blue-collar work differs across all Bay Area counties. In Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, and San Francisco, most manufacturing jobs are white-collar. In Alameda, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, and Sonoma, most manufacturing jobs are blue-collar.
- The production+ workforce is diverse. More than eight out of ten (84%) are workers of color, with Hispanic and Southeast Asian workers overrepresented. Additionally, over half (57%) of production+ workers are foreign-born and two out of three speak a language other than English at home. Collectively, production+ workers speak more than 30 different languages.
- The median wage in the Bay Area manufacturing sector across all occupations is $48.60 an hour (in 2024 dollars). However, this obscures a sharp divide: the median wage for white-collar manufacturing workers is $74.00 an hour, while for production+ occupations it is just $24.50.
- Despite the high prevalence of full-time work, only three out of ten (32%) production+ workers are paid enough to achieve a minimal standard of living for a family of two full-time working adults and one child.
- Within production+ jobs there are notable wage differences between demographic groups: Hispanic, female, younger, and foreign-born workers report lower median hourly wages, and an even smaller share are paid a living wage.
- Understanding the current labor market is important as the Bay Area considers strategies to support and grow its manufacturing sector. Policymakers and communities often see manufacturing development as a top priority, associating it with the creation of good jobs and a robust boost to the local economy (Ruckelshaus and Leberstein 2014). There is widespread interest in rebuilding the manufacturing sector in the U.S., as it contributes significantly to GDP, generates demand and job creation in other industries, and plays a strategic role in the energy transition and national security.
Separating Bay Area production+ jobs for analysis is important also because the manufacturing sector includes many white-collar jobs, such as software developers, engineers, lawyers, and marketing, accounting, and human resource personnel. Economic analyses that examine the entire manufacturing sector without distinguishing among occupations can overstate the compensation of blue-collar jobs.
Our findings show that manufacturing jobs are not inherently quality jobs, despite public perception or historical legacy. In the mid-20th century, high union density played an important role in setting labor standards and raising wages for blue-collar manufacturing workers. But density has declined dramatically in recent decades, and wages and working conditions have subsequently eroded for many workers. As policymakers consider strategies to cultivate manufacturing in the Bay Area, it will be important to incorporate approaches that can improve job quality and equity outcomes, such as supporting collective bargaining, community benefit agreements, and labor-management partnerships.
The Bay Area High Road Manufacturing Initiative
We conducted this analysis for the Bay Area High Road Manufacturing Initiative (BAHRMI), a collaborative of 30 stakeholders representing diverse interests across the Bay Area manufacturing sector. BAHRMI formed in January 2025, supported by a “Catalyst” grant awarded by Bay Area Jobs First, one of California’s regional economic development initiatives.
The mission of BAHRMI is to support the growth of a high-road manufacturing ecosystem in which businesses compete on the quality of their products, pay their employees a living wage, and support their communities and environment. The initiative aims to bring together industry, workers, and community partners to transform how manufacturing investments and workforce resources are deployed, advancing job quality, equity, and climate action across the region.
The purpose of this report is to share information to promote collective understanding of the current landscape of manufacturing employment in the Bay Area, and to identify challenges and strategies for cultivating a high-road manufacturing sector. This information is intended for use by economic development professionals, policymakers, and manufacturing sector stakeholders.
BAHRMI’s core team includes the UC Berkeley Labor Center, Working Partnerships USA, New Energy Nexus, the California Federation of Labor Unions, and the BlueGreen Alliance. The steering committee includes the core team, along with representatives from regional business associations, manufacturers, workers’ centers, local trade union councils, workforce agencies, and community colleges. BAHRMI’s work also involves collaboration with over two dozen partner organizations.
Read the report.
