Manufacturers in Alabama: big plants, few headquarters and the suppliers in between

This report is for companies sourcing parts or services from Alabama manufacturers, people weighing a job or a plant site in the state, and B2B sellers working an Alabama territory. It covers the federal count and what makes Alabama different, the industries and counties, who owns the largest plants, where to look up names, and how to work the market.

Alabama manufacturing at a glance

All figures are from the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 for manufacturing (NAICS 31 to 33) in Alabama.

Ranking the CBP state file ourselves, Alabama is 16th by manufacturing employees, and manufacturing makes up 14.9% of the state's private-sector employment, seventh-highest among the states (Wisconsin, at 18.2%, is first). The national average plant has 43.4 employees; Alabama's has 65.7.

Big plants, few headquarters

The size table shows where that average comes from:

That's 2,586 plants with 1 to 19 employees, 977 with 20 to 99 and 582 with 100 or more. One plant in seven has at least 100 employees.

Most of the largest plants belong to companies based elsewhere. The Alabama Department of Commerce names Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Hyundai and Mazda Toyota as the state's automakers, notes that Mercedes-Benz builds vehicles in the US only in Alabama, and puts the auto sector at 54,000 employees. It also describes the Airbus plant in Mobile, which builds A320 Family and A220 jets, as Airbus's only US manufacturing center. None of those companies files a 10-K from an Alabama address.

SEC EDGAR lists just four companies with a listed ticker, a manufacturing SIC code and an Alabama business address. Two have meaningful revenue, both in Huntsville, as reported in their latest annual reports:

The other two, Serina Therapeutics and Applied Aerospace & Defense, reported little or no revenue. For everyone else, private records and the state's own directories are the way in.

What Alabama makes

Inside transportation equipment, the detailed codes split three ways: 11 motor vehicle assembly plants with 20,041 employees, 145 motor vehicle parts plants with 32,953, and 42 aerospace plants with 10,632. The forest economy is the other big story: 347 wood products plants, 62 paper plants and 18 pulp and paper mills averaging 416 employees each. Food plants average 112 employees, and poultry processing explains most of that: 35 poultry plants employ 23,866 people, 70% of Alabama's food manufacturing jobs.

Where the plants are

Jefferson County has the most plants and jobs. Tuscaloosa has nearly as many manufacturing jobs (20,590 against 23,547) in about a quarter as many plants, and Marshall County's plants also average more than 100 employees. Baldwin's 183 plants average 21. The top ten counties hold 1,966 of the state's 4,145 plants (47%); the rest are spread across 57 more.

What the count includes

CBP counts establishments, not companies: each plant or location with paid employees, classified by its main activity, with employment as of the week of March 12, 2023. A supplier with plants in Cullman and Opelika counts twice; a head office counts as a management office; owner-only shops aren't included. The figures were released in 2025.

Where to look up Alabama manufacturers

Commerce's announcements are the best timing feed. In October 2026, for example, it reported a $60 million Nucor expansion in Morgan County adding 60 jobs.

Selling to Alabama manufacturers

Alabama's structure gives you three different buyers:

1. The assembly plants and other large sites. Purchasing is often set by the parent company's supplier programs, with local plant leaders influencing service contracts, maintenance and training.
2. The supplier tier around them. Parts, metal, plastics and logistics plants sized 50 to 499 employees, run by plant managers with quality, operations and maintenance leads who can choose local vendors.
3. Small shops. The 2,586 plants with fewer than 20 employees, where the owner buys everything.

For the trucking side of the same supply chain, see trucking companies in Alabama.

Worked example: a welding gas and supplies distributor

Illustrative example. The distributor, its rates and the regional share are invented; the plant counts are Census data.

Shoals Weld Supply (shoalsweld.example) delivers cylinder gas, wire and consumables and services welding equipment. Its customers are metal-cutting and welding plants with 10 to 249 employees.

• Alabama plants with 10 to 249 employees: 619 + 618 + 359 + 340 = 1,936.
• Fabricated metal, transportation equipment, machinery and primary metals make up 891 + 311 + 235 + 91 = 1,528 of 4,145 plants (37%), so about 714 fit on industry and size.
• Shoals covers North and Central Alabama from Decatur. Jefferson, Madison, Morgan, Marshall, Cullman and Shelby hold 1,341 plants (32%), so about 231 accounts are in reach.
• At one new account per 20 worked, that's about 11 new accounts from the first pass.

The work is in finding which plants are adding welding capacity: a new line, an expansion, a posting for welders. Bebop can search for "North Alabama metal fabricators and auto parts plants with 10 to 249 employees hiring welders" and research each one.

Hi [first name], it's [your name] from Shoals Weld Supply in Decatur. I saw [Company] is hiring welders for the [town] plant. When a shop adds a shift, gas deliveries and wire feeders are usually the first things that can't keep up. Who handles your welding supplies today, and is it worth fifteen minutes to compare delivery schedules?

Next step: reach the right person at each plant with how to find decision makers, or read the manufacturing industry guide for how plants buy.