Nike is one of the most recognizable brands in the world and a leading global producer of athletic shoes and apparel. They were founded in Oregon in 1964 by University of Oregon track star Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman. Nike still has their roots in Oregon today. Still, it’s fairly obvious and well-documented that they outsource a significant portion of their manufacturing to Southeast Asia, Central America, and other regions of the world to take advantage of cheap labor and material costs, regardless of the impact on our economy or the quality of their products. So, the question isn’t necessarily “is Nike made in the USA”, but rather, are there any Nike products at all that are still assembled and sourced in the United States? We did the research to find out. Our verdict is below.
Verdict: Are Any Nike Products Made in the USA?
According to the latest data we have from November 2020, Nike has 35 U.S. factories (30 of which are focused on apparel), which account for 6.4% of their total number of worldwide factories. Those 35 factories employ 5,430 workers, which is a measly 0.5% of Nike’s total workforce across its entire manufacturing footprint. Averaging that out, each U.S. Nike factory employs 155.1 workers on average, compared to the average across all of their factories of 2,010.1 workers.
Vietnam, China, and Indonesia account for the majority of their footprint, with a total of 51.6% of their manufacturing plants. Those countries are clearly the hotbeds for manufacturing, where they really “pack it in”; each factory employs an average of 2,888.6 workers.
So, where is Nike made? Below is a breakdown of all Nike factories sorted by country and the types of products they produce.
| Country/Region | Apparel | Equipment | Footwear | Materials | Total | % of Total |
| Vietnam | 65 | 10 | 30 | 17 | 122 | 22.5% |
| China | 47 | 28 | 32 | 12 | 119 | 21.9% |
| Indonesia | 11 | 5 | 18 | 5 | 39 | 7.2% |
| United States of America | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 6.4% |
| Thailand | 23 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 32 | 5.9% |
| Taiwan | 6 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 25 | 4.6% |
| Italy | 15 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 23 | 4.2% |
| Sri Lanka | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 3.1% |
| Brazil | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2.6% |
| Cambodia | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2.4% |
| Korea | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 2.4% |
| Japan | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1.7% |
| Argentina | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1.5% |
| Mexico | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1.5% |
| Honduras | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1.3% |
| Malaysia | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1.3% |
| Pakistan | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1.1% |
| Egypt | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.9% |
| Turkey | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.9% |
| Moldova | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.7% |
| India | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.7% |
| Georgia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.6% |
| El Salvador | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.6% |
| Jordan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.6% |
| Nicaragua | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.4% |
| Guatemala | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.4% |
| Canada | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.4% |
| Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.4% |
| Ecuador | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Croatia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Israel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Lithuania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Bosnia And Herzegovina | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2% |
| Total | 298 | 73 | 115 | 57 | 543 | 100% |
Nike is perhaps most renowned for its shoes and sneakers. So if you are wondering where are Nike shoes made, if you look at the graph above, you’ll see that most of their shoes are made in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Regardless of whether you decide to buy any Nike products, I would be remiss not to mention their controversial past, which includes not only abandoning American manufacturing but also producing their products in factories with absolutely atrocious working conditions. Nike drew major criticism starting in the 1990s for their use of child labor and sweatshops in countries like Cambodia and Pakistan. There have been several video documentaries following children in Nike’s factories, who work 7 days a week and 16 hours a day. Those types of employment controversies have continued recently as well, including a strike at a Chinese factory where the public discovered that Nike had been underpaying their factory workers for nearly 20 years.
Additional controversy surfaced more recently with another example of Nike saying one thing and doing another – the Hong Kong protests, a large social justice event in 2019 and 2020. Nike loves a good social justice campaign, but when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey spoke out in support of the protests, Nike removed all Houston Rockets apparel from its stores in China.
Anyway, I think there are many better options for athletic shoes and apparel from companies that support fair wages, working conditions, and the American job market and economy. If you do want to buy Nike, I recommend going directly to one of their U.S. manufacturing partners, which I’ve listed below.
| Factory | Product Type | City | State | Total Workers |
| A & K Designs, Inc. | Apparel | Portland | Oregon | 130 |
| Artfx Concord | Apparel | Concord | North Carolina | 113 |
| Artfx Inc | Apparel | Norfolk | Virginia | 534 |
| Bc Graphics, Inc | Apparel | Beaverton | Oregon | 28 |
| Big Game Sports | Apparel | Dallas | Texas | 46 |
| Blue Star Graphics | Apparel | Frisco | Texas | 53 |
| C&W Embroidery, Inc. | Apparel | Rienzi | Mississippi | 145 |
| C.C. Creations | Apparel | Bryan | Texas | 135 |
| Evergreen Apparel Mfg. | Apparel | Hillsboro | Oregon | 26 |
| Fjord, Ltd. | Apparel | Woodburn | Oregon | 116 |
| Kim’s Embroidery, Inc. | Equipment | Oxnard | California | 33 |
| Guardlab Inc | Equipment | Farmingdale | New York | 8 |
| H&H Screening & Graphics Inc. | Apparel | Vista | California | 34 |
| Hapco Screen Printing | Apparel | Emmaus, | Pennsylvania | 27 |
| Paramount Apparel Int ’ l, Inc. Winona, MO | Apparel | Portland | Oregon | 7 |
| K-L Mfg. Co., Inc. | Apparel | Spokane | Washington | 124 |
| Latitudes | Apparel | Portland | Oregon | 60 |
| Logo Capital | Apparel | Alexandria | Virginia | 24 |
| Majestic Athletic | Apparel | Easton | Pennsylvania | 430 |
| Oregon Screen Impressions, Inc. | Apparel | Portland | Oregon | 130 |
| Pacific Athletic Wear, Inc. | Apparel | Garden Grove | California | 103 |
| Paramount Apparel International, Inc. | Apparel | Bourbon | Missouri | 525 |
| R.J. Liebe Athletic Lettering Co. | Apparel | Winona | Missouri | 87 |
| Ripon Athletic | Apparel | Berlin | Wisconsin | 143 |
| U.S. Embroidery, LLC | Apparel | Chesterfield | Missouri | 48 |
| Sfo Apparel Inc. (Sewing & Cutting) | Apparel | Brisbane | California | 80 |
| Slane Hosiery Mills – Centennial Facility | Equipment | High Point | North Carolina | 493 |
| Slane Hosiery Mills – Fairfield Facility | Equipment | High Point | North Carolina | 492 |
| Staples Promotional Products | Apparel | Orange City | Iowa | 566 |
| Staples Promotional Products | Apparel | Marcus | Iowa | 68 |
| Sussex Im | Equipment | Sussex | Wisconsin | 315 |
| Team Edition Apparel | Apparel | Bradenton | Florida | 166 |
| Tukes Printing | Apparel | Tremont | Pennsylvania | 51 |
| Paramount Apparel Int ’ l, Inc., Winona, MO | Apparel | Wilsonville | Oregon | 18 |
| Yesterwear | Apparel | Lumberton | New Jersey | 72 |
Good luck in your search! And let us know if you have any questions.
American Made Alternatives
- American made shoe companies
- American made sneaker companies
- American made shorts
- American made activewear
More Investigations
- Are New Balance shoes made in the USA?
- Are Skechers made in the USA?
- Are Reebok products made in the USA?
- Is Under Armour made in the USA?
- Is Lululemon made in the USA?
- Is Fruit of the Loom made in the USA?
- Is Hanes made in the USA?
- Is Gildan made in the USA?
- Is Champion made in the USA?
- Is New Era made in the USA?
Data source: nikeinc.com
