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NAICS 2022

326

Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing

Analysis

NAICS 326 is the 2022 subsector for plastics and rubber products manufacturing. Census lists 229 example activities under it in the official index.

County Business Patterns counts 11,392 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 815,991 people at an average annual payroll of $61,101 per employee (35th percentile of national industries). 19% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which points to larger operations.

Across its national industries Census lists 229 index entries; typical ones are bags, plastics film, single wall or multiwall, manufacturing, film, plastics, packaging, manufacturing, acrylic film and unlaminated sheet (except packaging)… and casings, sausage, nonrigid plastics, manufacturing.

Its goods appear in 331 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 3926 (other articles of plastics and articles of other materials…), 4010 (conveyor or transmission belts or belting, of vulcanized…) and 4011 (new pneumatic tires, of rubber). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.

It splits into 2 more detailed codes. The largest by establishments is 3261 (Plastics Product Manufacturing) with 9,636.

Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 6% and employment rose 4%. The 2018 count used NAICS 2017, so part of a large move can come from codes being redefined rather than from businesses opening or closing.

Official definition

Industries in the Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing subsector make goods by processing plastics materials and raw rubber. The core technology employed by establishments in this subsector is that of plastics or rubber product production. Plastics and rubber are combined in the same subsector because plastics are increasingly being used as a substitute for rubber; however, the subsector is generally restricted to the production of products made of just one material, either solely plastics or rubber.

Many manufacturing activities use plastics or rubber, for example the manufacture of footwear or furniture. Typically, the production process of these products involves more than one material. In these cases, technologies that allow disparate materials to be formed and combined are of central importance in describing the manufacturing activity. In NAICS, such activities (footwear and furniture manufacturing) are not classified in the Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing subsector because the core technologies for these activities are diverse and involve multiple materials.

Within the Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing subsector, a distinction is made between plastics and rubber products at the industry group level, although it is not a rigid distinction, as can be seen from the definition of Industry 32622, Rubber and Plastics Hoses and Belting Manufacturing. In the case of hoses and belting, plastics are used as a substitute for rubber, and the distinction in materials is not useful as a basis for establishment classification.

In keeping with the core technology focus of plastics, lamination of plastics film to plastics film as well as the production of bags from plastics only is classified in this subsector. Lamination and bag production involving plastics and materials other than plastics are classified in Subsector 322, Paper Manufacturing.

Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.

Index entries (229)

  • Bags, plastics film, single wall or multiwall, manufacturing
  • Film, plastics, packaging, manufacturing
  • Acrylic film and unlaminated sheet (except packaging) manufacturing
  • Casings, sausage, nonrigid plastics, manufacturing
  • Fittings and unions, rigid plastics pipe, manufacturing
  • Laminated plastics plate, rod, and sheet, manufacturing
  • Coolers or ice chests, polystyrene foam, manufacturing
  • Cushions, carpet and rug, urethane and other foam plastics (except polystyrene), manufacturing
  • Bottles, plastics, manufacturing
  • Bathtubs, plastics, manufacturing
  • Awnings, rigid plastics or fiberglass, manufacturing
  • Aircraft tire manufacturing
  • Rebuilding tires
  • Belting, rubber (e.g., conveyor, elevator, transmission), manufacturing
  • Extruded, molded or lathe-cut rubber goods manufacturing
  • Balloons, rubber, manufacturing