Sell plastic pallets in Washington
Washington had 36,691 warehousing jobs in 2025, 18th among the states, and its most concentrated pallet-using industry is fruit and vegetable preserving. Send the lot with its ZIP; the desk reads size, style, grade and marks, and rules it sold, returned or scrapped.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
Washington in numbers
- Warehousing and storage jobs, 2025
- 36,691 (18th of 50 states)
- Warehousing establishments
- 473 (18th of 50); about 78 jobs each
- Share of US warehousing jobs
- 1.93%
- Food manufacturing jobs
- 39,687 (19th of 50)
- Most concentrated pallet-using industry
- fruit and vegetable preserving, 2.8x the national share of employment
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs
- 4,224
- Auto parts jobs
- 1,900
- Refrigerated warehouse space, October 1, 2025
- 301 million cubic feet (3rd of 50)
Reading a Washington lot
Count the warehouses and Washington comes 18th; count the jobs in them and it comes 18th. It sits in the middle of the fifty by warehousing jobs. With about 78 people a site against a national 82, a lot is often a few stacks from one of many small docks.
Washington has 1.1 food manufacturing jobs for every warehousing job, against 0.9 across the fifty states. The plants are the bigger half of the picture, and they swap pallets on a schedule more than on wear. Among the other industries counted here, pharmaceutical manufacturing (4,224 jobs) is 2.2 times the size of auto parts (1,900).
Pierce County holds 28.1% of Washington's warehousing jobs, and the top 3 listed hold 68.3%. Three counties carry most of the market, and a lot near any of them is close to the most dock activity. The dossier follows 2 metros in Washington: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue and Yakima.
USDA counted 301 million cubic feet of refrigerated warehouse space in Washington, 3rd of 50 and about 8,204 cubic feet for each warehousing job, against 2,254 across the states it reports. Cold storage is a bigger part of the picture here, so expect cold-chain lots: decks that tolerate cold and moisture, and questions about washdown.
Where Washington's warehousing jobs sit
| County | Warehousing jobs | Share of the state's total |
|---|---|---|
| Pierce | 10,323 | 28.1% |
| King | 9,341 | 25.5% |
| Spokane | 5,387 | 14.7% |
What Washington's industries put on the dock
- Fruit and vegetable preserving: 10,988 jobs, 2025
- Grocery and related product wholesale: 23,876 jobs, 2025
By location quotient fruit and vegetable preserving leads in Washington, with 2.8 times the national share of employment. The page on fruit and vegetable packers shows what that industry sets down on a dock.
Metros and freight clusters in Washington
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue: 3 counties (Snohomish, King, Pierce). 23,062 private jobs in warehousing and storage in 2025 (1.21% of the US total; 1.3% of local private jobs). Largest warehousing counties: Pierce (10,323), King (9,341), Snohomish (3,398). Most concentrated: warehousing and storage at 0.9x the national share of employment. ZIPs with the most warehousing establishments (Census ZBP 2023): 98032 Kent (41), 98390 Sumner (33), 98001 Auburn (23), 98421 Tacoma (19), 98424 Fife (15). The Northwest Seaport Alliance handled 3,156,598 TEUs in 2025, down 5.5 percent from 2024, with full exports down 4.9 percent.
Yakima. Yakima: 1 counties (Yakima). 1,309 private jobs in warehousing and storage in 2025 (0.07% of the US total; 1.3% of local private jobs). Most concentrated: fruit and vegetable preserving at 8.9x the national share of employment. ZIPs with the most warehousing establishments (Census ZBP 2023): 98930 Grandview (4), 98903 Yakima (3).
Where Washington sits among the fifty
| Measure, 2025 | Washington | Next state above | Next state below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warehousing jobs | 18th: 36,691 | Kentucky, 38,281 (+1,590) | Wisconsin, 33,054 (-3,637) |
| Warehousing establishments | 18th: 473 | Missouri, 523 (+50) | Kentucky, 430 (-43) |
| Food manufacturing jobs | 19th: 39,687 | Tennessee, 40,320 (+633) | Florida, 39,390 (-297) |
States next to Washington
| State | Warehousing jobs | Largest county for warehousing | Food manufacturing jobs | Top concentration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 16,750 | Multnomah (7,435) | 28,203 | fruit and vegetable preserving |
| Idaho | 2,445 | Ada (1,025) | 21,363 | fruit and vegetable preserving |
Washington has more warehousing jobs than any of these. The largest of them, Oregon, has 0.5 times Washington's 36,691. A lot near a state line can be read against either side, so give the exact ZIP.
More on Washington from the sources
- Private employers in the US averaged 173,844 jobs across 2,936 establishments in fruit and vegetable preserving (NAICS 3114) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (27,518), Wisconsin (11,014), Washington (10,988), Ohio (10,327), Texas (9,194). (data.bls.gov)
- The five states with the largest gross refrigerated warehouse capacity on October 1, 2025 were California (400 million cubic feet), Georgia (304 million), Washington (301 million), Wisconsin (297 million) and Texas (254 million), per USDA NASS. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- Refrigerated warehouse facility counts on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS): California 106, Wisconsin 94, Georgia 62, Texas 56, Washington 52, Florida 50, Pennsylvania 38. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- Counties with the most private fruit and vegetable preserving jobs (NAICS 3114) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (3,695), Stanislaus County, California (3,669), Fresno County, California (3,355), Cook County, Illinois (2,861), Franklin County, Washington (2,520), Marion County, Oregon (2,273). (data.bls.gov)
Other pallet-using industries counted in Washington
| Industry | Jobs, 2025 | Against warehousing jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical manufacturing | 4,224 | 0.1 to 1 |
| Auto parts | 1,900 | 0.1 to 1 |
Sending a lot from Washington
Count the stacks, give the ZIP where they stand, and use the sorter or the form below. If the dock holds a seasonal surge, say so in the message.
How many warehousing jobs does Washington have?
36,691 private-sector jobs across 473 establishments in 2025, 1.93% of the US total, which ranks Washington 18th of 50.
Do you take plastic pallets from Washington?
Yes. The desk reads lots from every state, and the ZIP lets it read the route in Washington. This site states no price or pickup date.
Which Washington industry is most concentrated?
Fruit and vegetable preserving, at 2.8 times the national share of employment in the 2025 federal data used here.
Who asks, and what they need
- Automotive plants and suppliers
- 48 x 45 pallets that match bulk containers; closed-loop reuse; heavy dynamic and static loads.
- Chemical and drum shippers
- 48 x 48 and 45 x 45 pallets for drums and bags; chemical resistance.
- Export shippers
- Light or low-cost one-way pallets with no ISPM 15 treatment; Euro 1200 x 800 and 1200 x 1000 sizes.
What the sources say
- The Northwest Seaport Alliance (Seattle and Tacoma) handled 3,156,598 TEUs of international and domestic containers in 2025, down 5.5 percent from 2024, with full imports down 10.3 percent and full exports down 4.9 percent. (nwseaportalliance.com)
- Counties with the most private fruit and vegetable preserving jobs (NAICS 3114) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (3,695), Stanislaus County, California (3,669), Fresno County, California (3,355), Cook County, Illinois (2,861), Franklin County, Washington (2,520), Marion County, Oregon (2,273). (data.bls.gov)
- Refrigerated warehouse facility counts on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS): California 106, Wisconsin 94, Georgia 62, Texas 56, Washington 52, Florida 50, Pennsylvania 38. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 173,844 jobs across 2,936 establishments in fruit and vegetable preserving (NAICS 3114) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (27,518), Wisconsin (11,014), Washington (10,988), Ohio (10,327), Texas (9,194). (data.bls.gov)
- The five states with the largest gross refrigerated warehouse capacity on October 1, 2025 were California (400 million cubic feet), Georgia (304 million), Washington (301 million), Wisconsin (297 million) and Texas (254 million), per USDA NASS. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- Port of Los Angeles handled 9,447,731 TEUs from January through November 2025, 1 percent more than the same months of 2024; its executive director called 2025 firmly a top-three year in the port's history. (portoflosangeles.org)
- USDA NASS counted 3.99 billion cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse capacity in the US on October 1, 2025, with usable capacity of 3.25 billion cubic feet (82 percent of gross). (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- Port Houston's public terminals handled 4,303,345 TEUs in 2025 (up 4 percent, a record) and 54,491,066 short tons of cargo; the Houston Ship Channel is described as the nation's largest port for waterborne tonnage, with more than 200 private and eight public terminals. (porthouston.com)
- Georgia Ports Authority moved 5.7 million TEUs in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025), up 8.6 percent or 450,000 TEUs, the Port of Savannah's second-busiest year after 5.76 million in FY2022. (container-news.com)
- Private employers in the US averaged 1,901,976 jobs across 23,345 establishments in warehousing and storage (NAICS 493) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (236,923), Texas (175,579), Pennsylvania (123,481), Florida (105,401), Ohio (98,354). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 1,775,008 jobs across 42,763 establishments in food manufacturing (NAICS 311) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (166,660), Texas (112,088), Illinois (98,300), Pennsylvania (82,538), Wisconsin (81,993). (data.bls.gov)
- Nestable pallets can cut empty-pallet storage space by up to 75 percent. (blog.containerexchanger.com)
- Private employers in the US averaged 73,136 jobs across 1,811 establishments in refrigerated warehousing (NAICS 49312) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (9,969), Texas (6,638), New Jersey (5,388), Georgia (4,453), Pennsylvania (4,102). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 575,006 jobs across 12,344 establishments in plastics product manufacturing (NAICS 3261) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Ohio (42,286), Texas (40,945), California (35,933), Pennsylvania (34,094), Indiana (33,122). (data.bls.gov)
- USDA NASS counted 931 refrigerated warehouses on October 1, 2025: 476 public and 455 private or semiprivate. Public warehouses held 2.46 billion gross cubic feet, 62 percent of the total. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- Census Bureau: seasonally adjusted e-commerce sales were $340.2 billion, 17.1 percent of total retail sales, in the second quarter of 2026 (released August 18, 2026). (census.gov)
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