2026 Austin-area manufacturing list shows 29.6 million square feet and thousands of jobs across six counties

April 5, 2026

The 2026 listing of manufacturers in the Austin area shows a substantial industrial presence, with the firms included occupying about 29.6 million square feet and employing thousands of people locally. The geographic scope for the list covers Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell and Burnet counties, reflecting the broader Central Texas manufacturing footprint.

This year the online version of the ranking includes 112 manufacturers, a larger set than what appears in the print edition, and supplies basic details for each firm. The expanded online roster allows readers to see more companies and comparison points than the limited print space permits.

The ranking uses a tiered approach that places the greatest weight on the number of local employees a company has, then on the local square footage it occupies. When local employment or space figures were unavailable, the compilation relied on companywide employee totals to determine placement in the tiers.

Data for the list came from a mix of ABJ research and responses gathered from individual manufacturers through questionnaires. ABJ noted that it was not always able to independently verify the information firms provided, and it supplemented nonresponsive entries with estimates based on archival records and federal filings.

For manufacturers that did not return questionnaires, ABJ estimated employment figures by consulting its archives and annual submissions to the U.S. Department of Labor. That process allowed the publication to include nonresponding firms while maintaining a consistent sorting method across the list.

The 2026 edition reflects a deliberate change in research practice, with a shift toward broader data collection and greater coordination among more than 40 sister publications under the American City Business Journals network. That effort helped identify thousands of new local records and many additional businesses across ACBJ's coverage area during the past year.

Local officials, developers and industry observers can use the updated list for workforce planning, site selection and tracking industry trends as Austin-area manufacturing grows and changes.