Manufacturing companies in Ohio: the statewide count, by region, industry and size

This report is for people working across the whole state: procurement teams sourcing Ohio suppliers, analysts and site selectors, recruiters, and B2B sellers planning an Ohio territory. It covers the federal count and how Ohio compares, where the plants are and what they make, the regional organizations that can name them, and a plan for working the list.

Ohio manufacturing at a glance

These figures are from the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (CBP) for all manufacturing (NAICS 31 to 33) in Ohio.

How Ohio compares with other states

Florida and New York have more plants than Ohio, but Ohio employs far more people in manufacturing than either, and more than every state except California and Texas. Its plants average 51.8 employees, against about 25 in Florida. Neighboring Michigan is the closest comparison, with a similar plant size.

Where Ohio's plants are

These eight counties hold 5,903 of the state's plants, 44%. The rest are spread across Ohio's other 80 counties, where smaller cities and rural plants matter more than in most states. (County figures are from the CBP county file and add up to three fewer than the state total.) For the Cleveland area in detail, see the Cleveland manufacturing report.

What Ohio makes

Two different lists matter here. By number of plants, fabricated metal dominates: nearly one in four Ohio manufacturers is a machine shop, stamper, fabricator or similar. By jobs, transportation equipment leads, with 111,559 employees in only 629 plants, an average of about 177 each. Plastics and rubber (about 81 per plant) and chemicals (about 71) also run large.

Size of Ohio's manufacturers

In bands: 8,099 plants with 1 to 19 employees, 3,655 with 20 to 99 and 1,553 with 100 or more.

Limits of the count

CBP counts establishments, meaning individual plants and locations with paid employees, not companies. A manufacturer with plants in Lima and Marion counts twice, and its head office is classified separately. Owner-operated shops without payroll aren't included. Each plant is assigned to one subsector by its main product. Employment is for the week of March 12, 2023, and the data was released in 2025.

Regional sources for names

Ohio's economic development is organized by region, and each regional group tracks the manufacturers in its area.

For help with manufacturing improvement rather than names, NIST lists each state's Manufacturing Extension Partnership center. To confirm any company's legal entity and status, use the Ohio Secretary of State's business search.

Building a statewide list

1. Choose subsector and size first. "Plastics and rubber plants with 50 to 249 employees" is a list of a few hundred; "Ohio manufacturers" is 13,307.
2. Choose regions second. The county table shows where each kind of plant clusters, and that decides travel and territory splits.
3. Use the regional groups above for expansion news and member companies, and your own data tools for the rest.
4. Separate plants from companies. Decide whether you're selling to a plant manager or to a corporate function that buys for several plants.
5. Look for a reason now: an expansion announced through JobsOhio or a regional partner, a new customer program, hiring for a new shift.

Worked example: a compressed-air energy auditor

Illustrative example. The company, people and rates are fictional, to show the method.

Buckeye Air Audit (buckeyeair.example) finds leaks and waste in plant compressed-air systems. Its best customers are fabricated metal and plastics and rubber plants with 50 to 249 employees.

• Ohio plants with 50 to 249 employees: 1,254 + 1,015 = 2,269.
• Fabricated metal and plastics and rubber are 3,224 + 827 = 4,051 of 13,307 plants (30%), so about 690 fit on subsector and size.
• Buckeye focuses on the Northeast first: Cuyahoga, Summit, Lake and Stark hold 3,194 of the state's plants (24%), so about 165 accounts there.
• At 6 audits booked per 100 accounts worked, that's about 10 audits from the first region.

The research that matters is which plants have a reason to care this quarter: a new line, an expansion, a utility bill shock. Bebop can search for "Northeast Ohio plastics and metal plants with 50 to 249 employees that announced an expansion" and write a playbook for each.

Subject: Compressed air at [Company]'s [town] plant

Hi [first name],

I saw [Company] is [adding a line / expanding the [town] plant]. New equipment usually gets bolted onto the existing compressed-air system, and that's where leaks and pressure problems start costing money.

We run one-day air audits for Ohio plants your size and report the fixes with their payback. Would a slot in [month] work for [town]?

[Your name], Buckeye Air Audit

Next step: get the right person at each plant with how to find decision makers.