In 2013, the U.S. food and beverage manufacturing sector employed about 1.5 million people, or just over 1 percent of all U.S. non-farm employment, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. At 31 percent, meat and poultry plants employed the largest percentage of food and beverage manufacturing workers, followed by bakeries (16 percent), and fruit and vegetable processing plants and other food (both at 11 percent). Within the U.S. manufacturing sector, food and beverage manufacturing employees accounted for the largest percentage of employees (14 percent). In over 31,000 food and beverage manufacturing plants located throughout the country, these 1.5 million workers were engaged in transforming raw agricultural materials into products for intermediate or final consumption. Manufacturing jobs include processing, inspecting, packing, janitorial and guard services, product development, recordkeeping, and non-production duties such as sales, delivery, advertising, and clerical and routine office functions.
This chart appears in the ERS data product, Ag and Food Statistics: Charting the Essentials.
