Manufacturing Industries That Make the Materials to Build, Furnish a Home

Industries that manufacture all the materials you need to build and furnish a home — from windows and doors to kitchen appliances — employ thousands and generate billions of dollars in revenue.

The U.S. Census Bureau has released an interactive visualization showing the value of shipments and employment for select manufacturing industries that produce housing-related products like paint, upholstered chairs, kitchen cabinets and other materials that make a home.

Beginning Monday, the Census Bureau will start a weeklong celebration of manufacturing with blogs, infographics and other key content on a Manufacturing Day webpage to recognize the observance on the first Friday in October.

The housing manufacturing data come from an annual survey that provides the most detailed statistics on the U.S. manufacturing sector: the Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM).

The infographic below uses ASM data to highlight some of the manufactured parts of a house. 

If you select the "Value of shipments" tab, hover over the orange dot on the chimney to see data on the Concrete Block and Brick Manufacturing industry in 2018 and 2019. The ASM estimated a total value of shipments in this industry of $4.9 billion in 2018 and $4.7 billion in 2019.

Switch to the “Employment” tab and the dots will turn green. Hover over the kitchen cabinet to learn about Wood Kitchen Cabinet and Countertop Manufacturing: the ASM estimated this industry had 97,981 employees in 2018 and 89,719 employees in 2019.

ASM statistics are shown at the 2-6 digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes nationally, while the Geographic Area Series (GAS) shows 2-4 digit NAICS codes at the state and national levels.

Key ASM data users include the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB).

Adam Grundy is a supervisory statistician in the Census Bureau’s Economic Management Division.