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. Published 2026-07-14. Last reviewed 2026-08-16. Last updated 2026-08-16. Edited by Mike Ramsey / Reliable Media.
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 comes from a different survey covering a different span of years, and Census publishes no reconciliation of the two, so what drives the gap is unstated. The number depends entirely on how you count. |
| 47.1% | Firms rating robotics only 'somewhat important' | [B] | Medium | This is the somewhat-important share, not the very-important one. Census puts cloud (59.0%), specialized software (58.9%), and specialized equipment (57.4%) in the 'very important' column, while robotics (47.1%) and AI (58.0%) land in 'somewhat important.' Robotics is the only one of the five below 50%. |
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 comes from a separate Census survey, run later and covering a different span of years. Census doesn't publish a reconciliation of the two, so we can tell you what each one counts and when, but we can't tell you which of those choices moved the number 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 comes from a different Census survey, taken later and covering a different period, and the release doesn't spell out what drives the gap. Both are Census figures; treat them as separate measures rather than two readings of the same one.
- 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 a single Oxford study. It estimated the probability that occupations are susceptible to computerisation rather than predicting 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.
- AI adoption is a big-firm story: 37% of firms with 250+ staff
The 'everyone is adopting AI' story is really a large-firm story. 37% of US firms with at least 250 employees use AI, against a much smaller share of small firms. The automation frontier is concentrated, not universal.
- How many manufacturers use robots? Canada 8.4%, UK 14%, EU 16%
Three national statistics agencies measured how many manufacturers use robots and got 8.4%, 14% and 16%. All three are right. The gap is definitions and years, and it is why a single global adoption rate does not exist.
- Industrial network market share: Ethernet, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT
Industrial Ethernet now takes 79% of newly installed nodes, against 34% in 2015. The protocol shares underneath are trickier: the reporting denominator changed, so 2026 figures are not comparable with earlier years.
- What employers expect to reshape work: AI 86%, robots 58%
Asked which technologies will transform their business by 2030, employers put AI and information processing first at 86% and robots and autonomous systems second at 58%. The gap between those two numbers is the most useful thing in the survey.