When Gov. Gavin Newsom took to X last Monday and declared, “California is the manufacturing capital of America, period,” it was the kind of chest-puffing line his comms team dreams up during a slow news cycle. All swagger. No receipts.
The problem for Newsom and California Democrats who nod along is that the facts don’t back it up. They wrap themselves in buzzwords like "innovation" and "jobs." Meanwhile, California’s industrial backbone erodes.
For decades, they made it harder to build, hire, or expand. Now they want applause for the same hollow economy they helped hollow out. The reality is that California isn’t the manufacturing capital of anything, except in overregulation, red tape, and self-promotion.
California is the manufacturing capital of America, period.
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) October 6, 2025
We create more jobs, produce more goods, and drive more innovation than anywhere else in the country — because what gets built in California shapes the future and powers the U.S. economy.
California’s Numbers Don’t Back the Brag
Yes, California is big. The state’s manufacturing sector generated nearly $400 billion in annual output and supported around 1.2 million jobs in 2024. Those raw numbers look impressive on a press release, but size alone does not equal leadership.
If the standard is who produces the most per capita, who’s growing fastest, and who’s attracting new factory investment, California doesn’t even crack the top ten.
According to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report, states like Louisiana, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska rank among the strongest in manufacturing shipments per capita. These smaller, more efficient states are producing more manufacturing value per person, meaning they’re actually building more, faster, and more efficiently than California.
That’s what competitiveness looks like. And it’s something Newsom and his party refuse to discuss because it exposes the decades-long myth: California can strangle its industrial base and still claim national leadership.
This week, we're highlighting #manufacturing data ahead of #MFGDay on Oct. 3.
— U.S. Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau) September 29, 2025
Check out our new #DataViz for a novel spin on states’ value of manufacturing shipments that analyzes data per capita.
Get started on #AmericaCounts.https://t.co/aTwGE9r7CR#MFGDay25 pic.twitter.com/t9kRQfVWZU
California’s Manufacturing Boom Is History
California’s manufacturing strength today is a product of yesterday’s investments. The state’s industrial giants – aerospace, defense, and hi-tech – were built in the postwar decades when the business climate still encouraged risk and expansion.
But that era is long gone.
The Bay Area Council Economic Institute’s 2016 report Reinventing Manufacturing put it bluntly:
“The high cost of operating a business in California is often cited as a reason why manufacturers choose to locate facilities in other states.”
And the data tells the same story. In January 1990, California employed 1,985,500 manufacturing workers. By 2014, that number had fallen to 1,255,700, a decline of nearly 37 percent. When Newsom took office in January 2019, manufacturing employment had briefly ticked up to 1,293,100. By August 2025, it fell again to 1,211,200, the lowest in 35 years outside the COVID downturn.
Despite Newsom’s boasts about "growth," California has lost nearly 774,000 manufacturing jobs since 1990. The trajectory shows no signs of reversing.
Meanwhile, other states are seeing surges. Texas, Florida, and Arizona have all become factory hotbeds by doing the opposite of California. They’ve streamlined environmental approvals, lowered corporate taxes, and actually welcomed employers instead of penalizing them.
California? It’s busy taxing, regulating, and litigating its way out of competitiveness.
That’s why companies like Hewlett-Packard, Superior Industries, and Spreckels Sugar Company have left California. They didn’t flee for the weather. They fled because the Golden State has become a bureaucratic nightmare.
So, if Newsom’s California is really the “manufacturing capital of America,” why is the factory investment flowing east of the Sierras?
Democrats Watch Jobs Flee, Pretend It’s Fine
While factory investment heads east, California’s congressional representatives, including Maxine Waters, offer no solutions. They clap every time Newsom tweets that California “leads the nation,” yet they’ve done nothing to protect the working-class jobs that once made that claim true.
Where are they when factories shut down in Torrance? When aerospace contractors quietly move their operations out of Hawthorne? When machinists and welders in Compton lose their livelihoods?
Nowhere. Because they’re complicit in the illusion.
They love to brag about “innovation hubs” and “clean tech corridors” but ignore the steady loss of real manufacturing jobs, the ones that pay middle-class wages and sustain communities. They cut ribbons for "green tech" startups in Silicon Valley but won’t stand up for the assembly worker in Gardena.
The Census Bureau data backs up what Californians already know: manufacturing employment in the state has been stagnant or shrinking for decades, even as states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona post double-digit job growth.
And the irony couldn’t be clearer. The same Democrats who preach “equity” are presiding over a two-tiered economy. One where working-class Californians are priced out, while insiders and wealthy elites applaud themselves for “green innovation."
ALSO: The Numbers Are In, and Gavin Newsom Isn't Going to Like Where California Tied for First
Capital of Excuses, Not Factories
If California is the manufacturing capital of America, what exactly is being manufactured?
Because it’s not cars. Michigan leads in vehicle and auto parts production. It’s not semiconductors. Arizona leads the nation in semiconductor investment, supplier expansions, and jobs. And it’s not chemical manufacturing. Texas is the top chemical products exporter.
So, what is booming in California? Narrative. Press conferences. Glossy reports. Photo-ops from the governor’s mansion.
The Census Bureau report shows that smaller, leaner states are outperforming California on the only metric that really matters: output per worker. And California’s oversized totals only look impressive until you adjust for the 39 million residents footing the bill. Divide it out, and the so-called “manufacturing capital” looks more like an over-taxed outpost of political theater.
The Bay Area Council report again drove it home:
“California leads the nation in innovation and R&D, but much of the production associated with these innovations scales up elsewhere.”
Translation: California dreams it, other states build it.
Leadership? Don’t Hold Your Breath
If Newsom or any California Democrat truly wanted to make the state competitive again, the path isn’t a mystery. Cut permitting times. Rein in CEQA abuse. Reform energy policy. Lower tax burdens. Invest in infrastructure that manufacturers rely on, like ports, power, and water.
But they won’t. They’re too busy auditioning for higher office.
Instead, Newsom sells California’s industrial decline as progress. He turns legacy output into talking points and prays no one checks the math. Predictably, the mainstream media repeats his line. But they never ask, “Leads in what, exactly?”
True leadership is measured by results. Innovation that scales into production, real economic growth, and competitiveness that attracts investment. On all three counts, Newsom and California Democrats have failed spectacularly.
Thanks to Democrats over the past 20 years, California is:
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) September 27, 2025
- #1 in homelessness
- #1 in poverty
- #1 in Retail crime
- #1 in gas prices
- #1 in illiteracy
- #1 in wage stagnation
- #1 in frivolous lawsuits
- #1 in unemployment
- #2 in housing costs
- #2 in water bills
- #1 in… https://t.co/I9llSHFxjj pic.twitter.com/qNWsRcKNzI
California’s Reality Check: Myth vs. Manufacturing
Newsom’s “manufacturing capital” tweet was another one of his famous smokescreens. It was meant to distract from decades of policy failure that turned the Golden State’s once-world-class industrial belt into a museum exhibit.
He can tour factories and pose with workers all he wants. He can talk about “driving innovation” until the lights go out. But California’s manufacturing future is being written in states that welcome builders, not punish them.
And while Newsom campaigns as a savior of the middle class, California Democrats in Congress have stood by and watched the decline. They protected the political machine, not the workers who kept it running.
So, no Newsom. California is NOT the manufacturing capital of America. It is the capital of political theater, empty rhetoric, and squandered potential.
The receipts are in. The numbers don’t lie. Now, the truth is undeniable.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
Help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member