How We Verify the Projects We Track.

American Factory Tracker documents major U.S. manufacturing facilities and expansions announced on or after January 1, 2018. A project is included only when it meets all three standards:

1. Material scale. At least $100 million in facility-specific capital investment or at least 100 announced net-new permanent manufacturing jobs.

The or is deliberate. It captures highly capital-intensive factories that may create relatively few jobs as well as labor-intensive projects whose investment is smaller or not publicly disclosed. In modern, increasingly automated manufacturing, 100 permanent jobs can still represent a major facility and a meaningful regional economic commitment.

2. Primary-source verification. A company announcement, government release, SEC filing, regulatory document, or comparable primary public source must support the project. Secondary reporting may provide useful context, but it does not replace primary-source verification.
3. Physical U.S. manufacturing footprint. The project must involve a physical manufacturing or qualifying industrial-production facility located in one of the 50 U.S. states.

What counts as a permanent job
Permanent Manufacturing Jobs Announced counts net-new, direct, permanent positions publicly tied to a qualifying manufacturing facility or expansion—including production, engineering, scientific and laboratory, quality, skilled trades, automation, management, operations and on-site supply-chain roles. It excludes construction, temporary, indirect, induced, retained and outside-supplier jobs. Figures reflect publicly announced commitments and do not represent positions already filled or guaranteed.

When investment is not publicly disclosed
Some qualifying manufacturers announce permanent employment without releasing a facility-specific investment amount. AFT includes these projects only when they independently meet the 100-job threshold and labels the investment “Not publicly disclosed.”

Undisclosed investment does not mean zero. It is excluded from AFT’s disclosed-investment totals, and AFT does not estimate or assign an unsupported value.

AFT totals combine publicly reported investment and announced permanent jobs for qualifying projects. Figures described as "up to," "more than" or "approximately" retain those labels. The totals do not measure spending to date or the number of people currently employed.

AFT classifies a project as Operational when a primary source confirms production within the tracked facility or a defined phase of the tracked expansion. For partial startups, the project record identifies the operating phase and unfinished work. Recorded investment and announced jobs may cover the full project, including later phases; they do not measure completed spending or current employment.

Nonpartisan standards: AFT is nonpartisan. Projects are included or excluded by these published criteria alone, regardless of the administration, party, or policy associated with them.

Corrections & Updates: Project information may change after publication. Companies, agencies, and readers may submit documented corrections through AFT's listed contact method. AFT reviews credible supporting documentation and updates records when warranted.

Closures, cancellations and conversions
When a tracked facility closes, AFT does not erase investment that was completed. When an announced commitment is cancelled before it is built, AFT removes the unbuilt portion from its totals. When a company converts an existing facility to a new purpose, AFT counts the conversion investment separately only when its scope, and any overlap with earlier spending, can be established from public sources.

Where the split between completed and unfinished investment cannot be established, AFT keeps the original commitment visible on its project page but places it outside totals on an accounting hold until that accounting is resolved. A change in product or ownership alone does not remove a project from totals. AFT retains previously announced figures only where they still describe the tracked scope and no documented cancellation, scope reduction or replacement commitment requires adjustment.

• Temporary construction jobs
• Indirect, induced, supplier, retained, relocated, or transferred jobs
• Companywide or multi-facility investment commitments that cannot be attributed to an individual project
• Corporate headquarters or office relocations without manufacturing
• Research-and-development-only facilities
• Distribution centers or warehouses without manufacturing activity
• Projects announced before January 1, 2018
• Projects that fall below both inclusion thresholds
• Publicly cancelled projects, which are excluded from active totals (documented scope reductions may remain noted on the project record).

A pause alone does not remove an otherwise qualifying project from AFT's totals. AFT preserves the project's documented stage, identifies the pause and distinguishes historical opening targets from reconfirmed schedules. Publicly cancelled projects are excluded from active totals.

Aluminum & Other Metals covers facilities that smelt, refine, recycle, roll, extrude, or cast nonferrous metals, including aluminum, copper, titanium, and nickel alloys. Iron and steel remain in Steel. Critical-mineral processing and battery-specific materials follow their dedicated category rules.

Aerospace & Defense covers facilities manufacturing aircraft, spacecraft, launch vehicles, aircraft engines, avionics, missiles, rocket motors, munitions, ordnance, military vehicles, and weapons systems. Naval vessels and submarine components remain in Shipbuilding; semiconductor fabrication remains in Semiconductors.

Energy Equipment covers facilities manufacturing power-generation equipment or nuclear fuel, including solar wafers, cells, modules and trackers; wind turbines and components; power-generation turbines and generators; and nuclear fuel and reactor components. Batteries belong in Battery Manufacturing. Transformers, switchgear, cable and grid-protection equipment remain in Electrical Equipment & Grid. Petroleum and synthetic fuels remain in Oil Refining & Fuels.

Battery Manufacturing covers facilities manufacturing battery cells, modules, or packs of any chemistry, plus battery-specific active materials and components such as cathode and anode materials.

Food & Beverage covers physical U.S. facilities that manufacture, process, produce, bottle, package, or otherwise transform food, ingredients, or drinks — dairy plants, meat processing, packaged snacks, beverage co-packing, agricultural processing, and bakeries. Distribution centers, warehouses, restaurants, retail sites, headquarters, and R&D-only facilities are excluded.

Chemicals & Materials includes plastic resins and compounds. Molded, extruded, or formed plastic and rubber products belong in Plastics & Rubber Products unless assigned to a more specific AFT industry. Tires and vehicle-specific parts belong in Automotive. Finished packaging belongs in Packaging & Paper.

Critical Minerals & Magnets covers facilities that separate, refine, convert, or recover critical minerals into metals, oxides, or chemical compounds, plus facilities manufacturing finished permanent magnets of any chemistry, including magnets made without rare earths. Battery-specific active materials belong in Battery Manufacturing. For other integrated activities, classify by the primary stated output.

Industrial Machinery & Equipment covers qualifying U.S. factories producing machinery and industrial equipment used in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, mining, material handling, and infrastructure. Automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, robotics, and electrical-grid equipment remain in their dedicated AFT industries.

Robotics & Automation covers qualifying U.S. facilities that manufacture industrial robots, humanoid robots, warehouse robotics, automation systems, and related robotic equipment. Software-only operations, warehouses that merely use robots, headquarters, and R&D-only sites are excluded.

Packaging & Paper covers facilities manufacturing finished packaging of any material, including boxes, cartons, containers, cups, bottles, cans, packaging films and closures; and mills producing pulp, paper, paperboard, containerboard and tissue. Upstream aluminum sheet, plastic resin and glass production remain classified by material. Printing-only operations, warehouses and recycling collection without manufacturing are excluded.

Consumer Products covers facilities that manufacture finished goods for household and personal use, including toys and games, housewares, sporting goods, footwear, and personal-care products. Furniture and bedding, textiles and apparel, vehicles, electronics, medical devices, and food and beverages are classified in their dedicated categories. Household appliances belong in Appliances.

Appliances covers facilities manufacturing household appliances — including laundry, refrigeration, cooking and dishwashing appliances — and appliance makers' own component and subassembly plants. Commercial and industrial HVAC and cooling equipment remain in Industrial Machinery & Equipment. Consumer electronics remain in Computers & Electronics.

Plastics & Rubber Products covers facilities that mold, extrude, or form finished or semi-finished plastic and rubber products and components, primarily for other manufacturers or industrial users. Plastic resins and compounds remain in Chemicals & Materials. Finished packaging remains in Packaging & Paper. Tires and vehicle-specific parts remain in Automotive. Battery-specific components remain in Battery Manufacturing. Medical devices and dedicated medical components remain in Medical Devices & Diagnostics. Branded household consumer goods remain in Consumer Products.

Other Manufacturing covers qualifying manufacturing facilities whose primary product does not fit a dedicated AFT category, including rail equipment.

Every U.S. state is reviewed under the same editorial standards. States with at least one qualifying project appear in the database; states without a qualifying public announcement are listed separately for transparency and reconsidered during each editorial update.

Major manufacturing investment tends to cluster where infrastructure, power capacity, workforce availability, established supply chains, and economic-development policies support large industrial projects. Many of these projects are in the Sun Belt, the broad southern region stretching from the Southeast to Southern California, which has no official boundary. Specific industries have also formed their own clusters, some inside that region and some well beyond it.

• Semiconductors have clustered in Arizona, Ohio, New York, Texas, and Idaho, supported by CHIPS Act incentives, available land, and electrical capacity.
• Battery and EV manufacturing has concentrated across parts of the Midwest and Southeast, including Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, and Indiana. This area is often called the Battery Belt. It overlaps the Sun Belt, but describes an industry cluster rather than a broad geographic region.
• Steel, energy, and other heavy industries have drawn major investment in states such as Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Alabama, where energy resources, transportation infrastructure, and industrial supply chains already exist.

Project counts reflect qualifying public announcements and may vary widely by state.

Explore the Sun Belt and Battery Belt maps →