Analysis
NAICS 336510 is the 2022 national industry for railroad rolling stock manufacturing, part of 33651 (Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing). Census lists 17 example activities under it in the official index.
County Business Patterns counts 220 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 27,831 people at an average annual payroll of $88,238 per employee (76th percentile of national industries). 12% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which points to larger operations.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 10% and employment rose 1%. 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.
Its index entries, the activities Census uses to assign businesses to this code, include brakes and parts for railroad rolling stock manufacturing, buses, trackless trolley, manufacturing, industrial locomotives and parts manufacturing and light rail cars and equipment manufacturing, among 17 in all.
Its goods appear in 33 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 8607 (parts of railway or tramway locomotives or rolling stock), 8606 (railway or tramway freight cars, not self-propelled) and 8601 (rail locomotives powered from an external source of…). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.
Census lists 4 related activities that belong elsewhere, most often in 333131, 333914, 488210 and 811310. Businesses that do several things are classified by their primary activity, the one that generates the most value, so check those boundaries before settling on this code.
Official definition
This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in one or more of the following: (1) manufacturing and/or rebuilding locomotives, locomotive frames, and parts; (2) manufacturing railroad, street, and rapid transit cars and car equipment for operation on rails for freight and passenger service; and (3) manufacturing rail layers, ballast distributors, rail tamping equipment, and other railway track maintenance equipment.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.
Not this code if…
| The business mainly does | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing mining rail cars | 333131 Mining Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing |
| Manufacturing locomotive fuel lubricating or cooling medium pumps | 333914 Measuring, Dispensing, and Other Pumping Equipment Manufacturing |
| Repair establishments of railroad and local transit companies primarily engaged in repairing railroad and transit cars | 488210 Support Activities for Rail Transportation |
| Establishments not owned by railroad or local transit companies engaged in repairing railroad cars and locomotive engines | 811310 Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance |
Index entries (17)
- Brakes and parts for railroad rolling stock manufacturing
- Buses, trackless trolley, manufacturing
- Industrial locomotives and parts manufacturing
- Light rail cars and equipment manufacturing
- Locomotives manufacturing
- Locomotives rebuilding
- Lubrication systems, locomotive (except pumps), manufacturing
- Mining locomotives and parts manufacturing
- Rail laying and tamping equipment manufacturing
- Railroad cars and car equipment manufacturing
- Railroad cars, self-propelled, manufacturing
- Railroad locomotives and parts (except diesel engines) manufacturing
- Railroad rolling stock manufacturing
- Rapid transit cars and equipment manufacturing
- Rolling stock, railroad, rebuilding
- Streetcars and car equipment, urban transit, manufacturing
- Subway cars manufacturing