Iowa manufacturing fact sheet
THE FACTORY CENSUS, Q3 2026 · FACTORYREGISTRY RESEARCH · SNAPSHOT AUG 2026
As of AUG 2026, FactoryRegistry lists 2,523 manufacturing facilities in Iowa, of which 1,300 (51.5%) carry a recent operating signal. That is 77.83 facilities per 100,000 residents.
Full census, Q3 2026 · Iowa in the registry
Top counties
| COUNTY | FACILITIES |
|---|---|
| Polk | 239 |
| Linn | 161 |
| Scott | 112 |
| Black Hawk | 83 |
| Woodbury | 79 |
| Dubuque | 79 |
| Story | 64 |
| Muscatine | 56 |
| Sioux | 55 |
| Johnson | 54 |
Leading industries
| SUBSECTOR | FACILITIES |
|---|---|
| 311 Food Manufacturing | 506 |
| 332 Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing | 396 |
| 333 Machinery Manufacturing | 339 |
| 325 Chemical Manufacturing | 288 |
| 327 Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing | 212 |
Largest listed employers
| FACILITY | CITY | EMPLOYEES |
|---|---|---|
| American Ordnance - Iowa | Middletown | 500+ |
| American Ordnance LLC | Middletown | 500+ |
| Andersen Windows and Doors - Dubuque, IA. | Dubuque | 500+ |
| Ayia01-mfg-ay - Dubuque | Dubuque | 500+ |
| Bertch - Waterloo, IA | Waterloo | 500+ |
| Burke Corporation | Nevada | 500+ |
| Cc 300590 Cedar Rapids Plt | Cedar Rapids | 500+ |
| Clinton Corn Plant | Clinton | 500+ |
| Corporate Office | Oskaloosa | 500+ |
| Council Bluffs Case Rdy Plant | Council Bluffs | 500+ |
Ranked by reported employment band. Facilities whose sources report no band are not listed here.
Coverage
The registry lists 2,523 facilities in Iowa against a BLS QCEW benchmark of 4,243 manufacturing establishments (2024) — coverage of 59.5%. The benchmark is a floor: QCEW counts establishments covered by unemployment insurance and so excludes most sole proprietors and some contract operations. The real number of manufacturing sites is therefore higher than the benchmark, and this percentage overstates coverage rather than understating it. Where it exceeds 100%, the registry lists more sites than QCEW counts establishments — which is expected in states with many small or single-person operations, and is also where duplicate listings would show up first.
FactoryRegistry Research, The Factory Census, Q3 2026 — factoryregistry.com/census/2026-q3/ia · press@factoryregistry.com