Kittery shipyard’s economic impact climbs to $1.6B

Cranes and buildings are by the waterfront.

FILE PHOTO / WILLIAM HALL The civilian workforce and payroll at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard continue to climb.

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Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the Kittery facility that repairs and services the U.S. submarine fleet, continues to play an important role in employment and payroll throughout the region that includes Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

In 2024, the shipyard injected $1.6 billion into the region's economy, up from $1.54 billion in 2023, $1.46 billion in 2022 and $1.32 billion in 2021.

That finding comes from a report released by the Seacoast Shipyard Association, a nonprofit booster group. The report uses data on civilian payroll, military payroll and the costs of purchases and contracted services to estimate the yard's annual economic impact.

In 2024, the shipyard employed 7,721 civilians, up from 7,469 in 2023.

The civilian workforce peaked in 2020 at 7,639.

The 2024 civilian payroll totaled $762.2 million, up from $716.2 million in 2023 and from $663.5 million in 2022.

More about the workforce

Most of the shipyard’s civilian workforce hails from Maine, with 4,252 employees earning $433.2 million. That was up from Maine’s numbers in 2023, when 4,194 employees earned $402.1 million.

Another 3,126 workers were from New Hampshire, 231 from Massachusetts and 112 from outside the three states.

Maine towns producing the largest number of employees were Sanford/Springvale with 573 employees who earned $51.2 million, followed by Kittery and Kittery Point with 453 employees who earned $43 million.

The military payroll is $35.98 million, up from $34.2 million in 2023.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is one of four such Navy-operated facilities in the country and the second-oldest, founded in 1800.