How Much Would an American-Made 65-Inch TV Actually Cost?
$1,800 to $2,500 for a 65-inch American-made TV.
Let’s imagine a world where we make flat-screen TVs right here in the United States. Sounds pretty cool, right? Picture it: a sleek 65-inch flat-screen built entirely on American soil. But how much would it actually cost us to pull this off, and could it really compete with all those affordable, imported TVs?
Spoiler: it wouldn’t be cheap. In fact, if you’re used to snagging that 65-inch for around $500–$700, you might want to brace yourself. An American-made TV would set you back 2-3 times that amount. Let’s break down why.
The Costs Behind the Screen
To get a feel for the price, let’s take a closer look at the factors driving costs up. From high labor rates to supply chain hurdles, making a big, bright flat screen on American soil would come with a hefty price tag.
1. Labor Costs: The Big Hike
Labor in the U.S. is a whole different ballgame compared to places like China, South Korea, or Vietnam, where most of our TVs currently come from. Here’s a quick comparison:
• U.S. Manufacturing Wage: Around $20–$25 per hour
• China/Vietnam Wage: About $5–$10 per hour
For every dollar spent on labor abroad, we’re paying closer to $2 or $3 here. On a typical TV, labor might cost around $200 in Asia. In the U.S.? Expect $600–$800.
2. Supply Chain and Material Costs: Imported Parts or Local Production?
Most of the high-tech components in a TV—LCD panels, chips, backlights—come from Asia. We could import these parts, but then we’d be hit with tariffs and shipping costs. Alternatively, we could try to produce them here, but that’s no cheap task either.
• For a typical 65-inch TV, these imported materials might run around $300.
• Building the same parts domestically would likely add a 30-50% markup, pushing this up to about $400–$450.
And we’re just getting started.
3. Factory Setup and Overhead: The Price of Infrastructure
Building TVs isn’t as simple as sticking a few parts together. To compete with Asian manufacturers, we’d need state-of-the-art facilities, automated production lines, and teams of specialized workers. Setting this up would cost billions upfront.
• Standard overhead for an imported TV is about $100 per unit.
• Here in the U.S., we’re looking at an additional 20-30% in factory setup costs, totaling around $120–$130 per TV.
4. Logistics and Tariffs: Moving Parts Adds Up
Importing all those little components adds even more cost. We’d pay for shipping, handling, and maybe even tariffs to bring parts from other countries to U.S. soil. That’s an extra 15-25% increase in logistics.
• For an imported TV, logistics might add around $50.
• In the U.S., it would push this cost to $60–$65.
So, What’s the Final Price Tag?
Let’s add it all up. Right now, a standard imported 65-inch TV costs about $650 to make. That covers labor, materials, factory costs, and logistics.
But an American-made TV? It would push that up to $1,200–$1,500 just to get it off the production line. And when you add the retail markup (gotta keep the lights on in those stores), the total price for you, the buyer, would land around:
$1,800 to $2,500 for a 65-inch American-made TV.
Why So Expensive?
So why the 2-3x jump in price? U.S. labor costs are higher, supply chains aren’t set up for this type of production, and we lack the economies of scale that global TV giants rely on. But there’s also a silver lining. If the U.S. were to invest in a strong electronics manufacturing base, costs might eventually drop. Automation, local suppliers, and high-volume production could chip away at the cost differences over time.
In the short term, though, the extra labor and logistics costs are tough to ignore. Right now, it’s simply cheaper to build TVs in places with established supply chains and lower labor rates.
Final Thoughts
An American-made TV would be a premium product in every sense: patriotic, but definitely pricey. For now, affordable TVs will likely continue coming from overseas. But who knows? With the right investments in manufacturing technology and supply chains, we could see that price gap start to close in the future.
Until then, if you want that American-made 65-inch TV, just be ready to pay up—potentially $2,000 and beyond.