The 2026 Size and Impact Report measures the annual economic footprint of the U.S. plastics industry across employment, shipments, investment, production and other key indicators. This year’s findings show the plastics industry continues to outpace broader manufacturing employment growth and maintains a significant economic presence across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, despite ongoing economic uncertainty.
Key findings from the report include:
- The U.S. plastics industry accounted for more than one million jobs (1,049,200) and $533.6 billion in shipments in 2025.
- Including suppliers, plastics-related employment rises to 1.66 million jobs, with total shipments reaching $715.8 billion.
- From 2015 to 2025, plastics manufacturing employment grew at an average annual rate of 0.8%, outpacing overall manufacturing employment growth of 0.3%.
- Plastic products manufacturing ranked as the eighth-largest U.S. manufacturing industry by gross output in 2024 (the latest year for which data is available).
- The plastics industry has a presence in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Texas had the largest workforce in 2025 with 91,600 employees, followed by Ohio (77,500) and Michigan (69,000).
