With so many different cooler options a lot of people want to know which coolers are made locally in the USA. Here is a full list of cooler brands that are made in the USA.
Coolers Made In The USA
Below are the cooler brands that are made in the USA. I’ve done a full write up on the best coolers made in the USA so check that out if you want more details about each of the brands.
You can also click the review links to see the reviews I have written for individual coolers.
- Orca Coolers (read my review)
- Pelican Coolers (read my review)
- Lifetime Coolers (read my review)
- Kong Coolers (read my review)
- RovR Coolers (read my review)
- Grizzly Coolers
- Otterbox Coolers (read my review)
- Orion Coolers (read my review)
- Igloo Coolers
- Cabela’s Coolers
- Bison Coolers
- Esky (by Coleman) Coolers
- Icehole Coolers (read my review)
- Kenai Coolers
- Taiga Coolers
- Cordova Coolers (read my review)
- Rubbermaid Coolers
- ICON Coolers
- Frio Coolers
Why Buy a Cooler Made In The USA?
There may be a bunch of different reasons you want to buy a cooler made in the USA.
Here are a few reasons and benefits for buying a cooler manufactured in the USA instead of overseas.
Keeping Jobs Local
By purchasing items that are made locally you’re ensuring that the company needs to support local jobs in order to make the product.
You know that part of the sale of your product is going towards an American’s wage and keeping them employed which helps the US economy as a whole.
Quality Control
Generally speaking it’s assumed that products made in the USA are going to have better quality control and thus be better built that items made overseas.
This isn’t always the case as some US companies are happy to sell inferior products but overall US products do seem to be of a higher quality than products made overseas.
This is especially true when it comes to the lesser known brands. A lot of these brands “white label” their products, so they take a cooler that is already being made in bulk for cheap in China and slap their logo on there. Quality of these overseas products does seem to be questionable.
Customization
When a company makes something locally there is a lot less time between production and sale of a product as it doesn’t takes months to ship it halfway across the world.
This also means the company has more control over their products and can more easily customize them to suit your needs.
ORCA Coolers are a prime example of this, as are Taiga Coolers. You can get custom logos printed on your coolers or tumblers, or your favorite football or baseball team.
Patriotism
Some people take great pride in their country and therefore feel pride purchasing products that are made in their country.
This adds to their overall enjoyment of the product and makes it a better purchase for them.
Ensuring Workers Are Treated Well
We have all heard stories about workers overseas who live in terrible conditions, are forced to work extremely long hours and who don’t get paid well.
By purchasing a cooler that is completely manufactured in the USA you can be more confident in knowing that it’s workers are being treated well, earning a fair wage and not being abused.
Customer Support
If the cooler company manufactures their products overseas then sometimes customers support can also be overseas, or it just takes longer to get a problem fixed because they have to wait for their next shipment.
However, this reason isn’t always true as a company like Canyon Coolers has one of the best warranties on their coolers and great customer support even though they manufacture their coolers overseas.
Then a company like Igloo makes all their products in the USA but customers are often complaining about how bad the customer support is. So I guess this is sometimes a benefit of buying locally, but not always. It really depends on the brand.
Cooler Brands That Aren’t Made In The USA
There are a lot of different cooler brands out there and not all of them are manufactured in the USA, in fact some of the biggest brands manufacture their products overseas in places like China, the Philippines, Taiwan, India etc.
Here are some cooler brands that aren’t made in the USA but instead are made overseas and shipping into the USA for sales and distribution.
- YETI Coolers
- RTIC Coolers
- Engel Coolers (read my review)
- Canyon Coolers (read my review)
- K2 Coolers (read my review)
- Siberian Coolers (read my review)
- Icer Coolers
- Techniice Coolers (read my review)
- nICE Coolers (read my review)
- Driftsun Coolers (read my review)
- Patriot Coolers
- Custom Cooler Store Coolers
- Polar Bear Soft Sided Coolers (read my review)
- IceMule Coolers (read my review)
- FatBoy Coolers
Why Buy a Cooler Made Overseas
The decision on what cooler to buy doesn’t always come down to where that cooler is made, in fact the biggest considerations are likely going to be things like price, ice retention, size, style and features.
You want a cooler that suits your needs as perfectly as possible and often that means choosing a brand that isn’t made in the USA.
There are also so benefits of buying coolers made overseas.
Price
One of the major benefits of a lot of coolers that are made overseas is that they are sold at a discount to those made locally.
Labor in the USA is obviously more expensive than that overseas and standards of factories and working conditions need to be higher, which all adds to the cost of production of a product and thus the final price.
A lot of these overseas brands offer their coolers at a discounted price compared to coolers made in the USA.
This isn’t always the case with a major exception being Yeti, who are the leading brand and one of the most expensive brands on the market.
See coolers like Yeti but cheaper
Brand Choice
Sometimes you can’t control where a company makes their products and sometimes the best brand or the brand you want just happens to make their products overseas.
Yeti is the largest and most well known brand in the high-end cooler space and their hard sided coolers are manufactured in the Philippines and their soft sized coolers and tumblers are made in China.
But their quality is extremely high and a lot of people want to buy a Yeti both for the branding as well as the high quality.
RTIC are another major player and big brand in the cooler space and they also manufacture their products overseas.
Sometimes the brand of cooler that suits you best is made elsewhere and thus it makes sense to buy that.
Features
Sometimes the features you are looking for in a cooler can only be found in a cooler made overseas.
Maybe it’s a certain size, or a certain accessory that will make a big difference for you. Maybe you’re looking for a roto-molded cooler with wheels and most of the good ones are made overseas
Because It Doesn’t Matter To You Where a Product Is Made
Imports and exports is a huge part of the global economy and it’s something that is a part of life and part of having a productive country.
For some people supporting local manufactures is important, but for other people it just isn’t a big deal. It’s normal for products to be made overseas and the decision on what cooler to buy isn’t based off where the product is made but rather the quality of the product, the price and the suitability to your needs.
This is 100% ok and it’s not un-patriotic to purchase items that are manufactured outside of the USA.
You Might Not Even Live in the USA
Not everyone reading this article will live in the USA. I myself live in Australia and shipping products from the USA to my home is quite expensive.
If you live outside the USA it’s unlikely that you care as much about where a cooler is made because it’s unlikely any coolers are made in your country.
I don’t even know if any cooler brands are made locally in Australia or if they are all completely imported.
Should You Buy a USA Made Cooler?
Ultimately the type of cooler you buy is completely up to you. I love some of the USA made brands who offer quality and value for money.
Orca, Lifetime, Kong and RovR are some of my favorite coolers are they are USA made.
But I also like a lot of the coolers made overseas. Yeti is an obvious favorite but I also really like RTIC coolers and Canyon coolers are also great.
If buying a locally made cooler is important to you then by all means go ahead, there are some great USA made coolers. But if it isn't important to you then also consider brands who manufacture their coolers overseas as they can still be extremely high quality.
