Robotics adoption
How many US firms actually use robots? Far fewer than you would think
About 2% of US firms use robots. The story everywhere is that every factory is filling up with them; the US Census Bureau went and counted, firm by firm, and found something far quieter.
That figure comes from a Census analysis of the 2019 Annual Business Survey. Robotics is concentrated in manufacturing, and even there only 8.7% of firms use a robot, though those firms employ a large share of manufacturing workers.
A newer Census release tells a different-sounding story, with adoption at 24 to 27%. Both come from the Census Bureau. This page traces each number and shows why they are not actually in conflict, once you see what each one counts.
Data covers US Census Bureau firm-level technology adoption, 2018 and 2023 surveys. Last reviewed by a human editor before publication.
The figures and where they come from
Each figure is rated for how safely you can cite it today. Ratings judge current usability, not whether a number was ever correct.
| Figure | What it is | Source | Citation Confidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| about 2% | US firms using robotics | [A] | High | Firm-level robotics use across the whole economy, 2016 to 2018. This is the number that punctures the 'everyone is automating' framing. |
| 8.7% | Manufacturing firms using robotics | [A] | High | Even in manufacturing, fewer than 1 in 11 firms uses a robot. Robotics is concentrated there, but it is still a minority of factory firms. |
| 45.1% | Manufacturing workers at robot-using firms | [A] | Medium | Robot-using manufacturing firms are large, so they employ a big share of manufacturing workers even though they are a small share of firms. Worker exposure is high; firm adoption is low. |
| 0.3% | US firms that produce robots | [A] | Medium | Robot production is even more concentrated than robot use. |
| 23.6% to 26.9% | Robotics adoption, 2023 survey | [B] | Medium | Census's newer telling, a much higher range. It measures adoption differently, which is why it is an order of magnitude above the 2% firm share. The number depends entirely on how you count. |
| 47.1% | Firms rating robotics 'very important' | [B] | Medium | Even among the newer, higher adoption figures, robotics was rated 'very important' by fewer firms than AI, the lowest of the technologies surveyed. |
Why the numbers disagree
The 2% and the 24 to 27% look like a contradiction, but they answer different questions. The 2% is the share of all firms that used robotics in the 2019 survey, a strict firm-level count across the whole economy. The higher figure is from a later survey that measures adoption on a broader basis. Change the definition and the denominator, and the number moves by an order of magnitude.
The firm-versus-worker gap matters just as much. Only 8.7% of manufacturing firms use a robot, but those firms employ 45.1% of manufacturing workers, because robot users are disproportionately large firms. So 'robots are rare among firms' and 'lots of factory workers work near robots' are both true at once.
Neither figure supports the strongest version of the automation story. Robot use is concentrated in a small number of large manufacturers, not spread evenly across the economy, and robot production is rarer still, at 0.3% of firms.
How to cite these figures
For firm-level adoption, cite about 2% of US firms and 8.7% of manufacturing firms, from the Census analysis of the 2019 Annual Business Survey, and say it is a firm share.
If you use the higher 24 to 27% figure, name it as the later Census survey and note it measures adoption on a different basis. Do not present it as the same metric as the 2% number.
When you talk about exposure, separate firms from workers. Few firms use robots, but the firms that do are large, so worker exposure is much higher than firm adoption.
Where people go wrong
Quoting a single adoption number without saying whether it is firms or workers, or which survey it came from. The two Census figures differ by an order of magnitude for exactly that reason.
Reading 'robots are concentrated in manufacturing' as 'most factories have robots.' Even in manufacturing it is a minority of firms.
Treating robotics adoption as economy-wide. It is concentrated in a small set of large manufacturers.
How we checked
The firm-level figures trace to a US Census Bureau working paper analyzing the 2019 Annual Business Survey. The newer figures trace to a 2025 Census release on the 2023 survey. We fetched both and confirmed each figure appears in the text.
We deliberately put the two Census numbers on the same page because the discrepancy is the point. A reader who has seen only one of them will misjudge how common robots are. Showing both, with what each counts, is more honest than picking the one that fits a narrative.
Where the surveys measure adoption differently, we say so rather than averaging them into a single false figure. There is no one true robot adoption rate; there is a firm share and a broader adoption measure, and they are different things.
Full source list
Primary sources, with live links. Every figure above traces to one of these.
- [A]U.S. Census Bureau2022
Zolas et al., "Advanced Technologies Adoption and Use by U.S. Firms: Evidence from the Annual Business Survey" (U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies working paper CES-WP-22-12R)
https://www2.census.gov/ces/wp/2022/CES-WP-22-12R.pdf - [B]U.S. Census BureauSeptember 2025
U.S. Census Bureau, "2023 Annual Business Survey Provides Insight into Technology Adoption"
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2025/09/technology-impact.html
Common questions
- What percentage of US firms use robots?
- About 2%, according to the US Census Bureau's analysis of the 2019 Annual Business Survey. In manufacturing specifically it is 8.7% of firms, still a minority.
- Why does Census also report a much higher number?
- A newer Census survey puts robotics adoption at 23.6% to 26.9%. It measures adoption on a different basis than the strict firm share, which is why it is far higher. Both are Census figures; they count different things.
- If few firms use robots, why do so many workers work near them?
- Because robot-using firms are large. Only 8.7% of manufacturing firms use a robot, but those firms employ 45.1% of manufacturing workers.
- Are robots common across the US economy?
- No. Robot use is concentrated in a small number of large manufacturers. Across all firms, only about 2% use robotics, and just 0.3% produce them.
More data, traced to source
- North American robot orders: the quarterly number every trade outlet quotes
Every US robotics headline about orders traces to one source: the quarterly data from the Association for Advancing Automation. Here are the figures, and how to read them without getting the story wrong.
- '47% of jobs at risk': what Frey and Osborne actually measured
The famous claim that nearly half of jobs will be automated traces to one 2013 study. It estimated the probability that occupations are susceptible to computerisation, not a prediction that 47% of jobs will vanish. Here is what it really said.
- 'One robot destroys 5.6 jobs': what the study really measured
The viral statistic that one robot destroys 5.6 jobs comes from a real, careful study. But the 5.6 figure is a local-labor-market estimate, not a claim that each robot nationwide eliminates 5.6 jobs. Here is what the researchers actually measured.