As with all of our articles, we’re going by the FTC regulatory definition of “made in USA”, where all significant parts of the product are of US origin and all significant processing is done in the US.
Table of Contents
Coated
Hammer Strength 12-Sided Urethane Dumbbells
| Head Material | Urethane Coated |
| Handle | 32mm thick up to 27.5lb, 35mm thick 30lb and up |
| Sizes | 5-100lb in 5lb increments |
| Price | $5-$24 / lb |
Life Fitness owns the Hammer Strength brand.
Iron Grip Urethane Dumbbells
| Head Material | Urethane Coated |
| Handle | 38mm thick, 44mm thick, or Contoured |
| Sizes | 10-100lb? in 5lb increments |
| Price | by quote only |
Iron Grip makes their urethane-coated dumbbells in their own US manufacturing facilities. The handles come in a choice of straight, contoured, or extra-thick straight. As shown in the pic, they offer custom logo engraving.
Their website does not have an online store, which is not because they’re old-fashioned but because they prefer to sell sets of weights to commercial and institutional buyers on a per-quote basis. You can certainly contact them to buy a set for your garage gym, if you can afford it. Normally I wouldn’t feature a company who is that difficult to buy from, but they have been around a long time and deserve a spot here.
Wright Octo Rubber Dumbbekouts where you’ll quickly drop them between exercises and where small weight increments don’t matter.
Cast Iron
Golden’s Cast Iron Dumbbells
| Head Material | Ductile & grey iron |
| Handle | 28mm (5lb) to 32mm (50lb) thick, 5″ long, sand textured grip |
| Sizes | 5-50lb in 5lb increments |
| Price | $1.60-$2/lb |
Golden’s is an old foundry in Baton Rouge, LA that made kamado grills and fire pits. In 2020 they began making dumbbells to address the gym equipment shortage.
Their pics show dumbbells up to 100lb, but so far they have only made up to 50lb.
MUTT Cast Iron Dumbbells
| Head Material | Cast Iron |
| Handle | Pinched ergonomic shape |
| Sizes | 10-50lb in 10lb increments |
| Price | $2-$4/lb |
A new company founded in 2021.
MUTT has made a dumbbell with unique ergonomically designed handles that are easier to hold firm in your hands and prevent unwanted rotation. They also claim it’s good for people with nerve compression issues in their hands.
Steel
Wright Precision Steel Dumbbells
| Head Material | Steel with Cerakote finish |
| Handle | 32mm thick, 5.5″ long |
| Sizes | 5-100lb in 5lb increments |
| Price | $5/lb |
Intek Steel Dumbbells
| Head Material | Stainless steel (Delta) / raw steel (Kraft) |
| Handle | 32mm thick, 5.25″ long, knurled |
| Sizes | 5-200lb in 5lb increments, Delta also 2.5lb increments up to 52.5lb |
| Price | Delta by quote only, Kraft $2.30-$4.80/lb |
Intek has 2 USA made dumbbell models. The Delta was the first and is made of stainless steel, with end caps that self-balance right side up.
The Kraft is their latest model, made with raw uncoated steel that will develop a patina over time like raw steel barbells. These are currently only available in large sets, not individual pairs.
Adjustable
PowerBlock USA Elite
| Material | Steel, rubber & plastic |
| Handle | 33mm rubber coated |
| Sizes | 5-90lb in 5lb increments |
| Price | $419-$797 |
PowerBlock has made adjustable dumbbells for many years. The USA Elite is their only USA-made model.
We have a comparison of PowerBlock dumbbells to other (non-USA made) adjustable dumbbells.
Rogue Dumbbell Handles
| Material | Steel & stainless steel |
| Handle | 28.5mm, zinc coated or e-coat |
| Overall Length | 20.5″ (DB-15) / 14.25″ (DB-10) |
| Price | $400/pair |
Rogue’s olympic dumbbell handles are quite expensive compared to Chinese made dumbbell handles, but they also are made with better materials and have a thicker handle than the typical 25mm (1″) handle on Chinese made ones.
The DB-15 is 20.5″ long, which is close to to typical 20″. The DB-10 is only 14.25″ long.
The DB-15 you can load to about 120lb each using the thinnest available 10lb iron plates, or even more with Rogue’s steel plates.
Micro Gainz Dumbbell Handles
| Material | Steel |
| Handle | 30.5mm |
| Overall Length | 14.5″ |
| Price | $175/pair |
Micro Gainz started up in 2020 making fractional plates as small as 1/4lb.
These 14.5″ handles are sold in pairs and are less than half the price of Rogue’s for a pair. They don’t have the premium construction features of Rogue like stainless steel sleeves or bronze bushings.
Ironmind Dumbbell Handles
| Material | Steel |
| Handle | 50mm (Husky) or 35mm (Big Boy), 5.6″ long |
| Overall Length | 22″ (Husky), 24″ (Big Boy) |
| Price | $420/pair (Husky), $460/pair (Big Boy) |
Ironmind sells fat-grip olympic handles called the Husky, and standard handles called the Big Boy. They both come with two pairs of nice Bulldog collars.
Black Widow Thick Grip Dumbbell Handles
| Material | Steel |
| Handle | 50mm, 5″ long |
| Overall Length | 21″ |
| Price | $110/pair |
Black Widow Training Gear was founded in 2009 in a shed and now has a full facility in Holbrook, NY where they fabricate all kinds of unique strength equipment.
This is an extraordinarily low price for USA-made dumbbell handles, but note that they are 1-piece construction with non-rotating sleeves.
The Strength Co Dumbbell Handles
| Material | Zinc coated steel |
| Handle | 28.5mm, 6″ long |
| Overall Length | 18 3/4″ |
| Price | $320/pair |
The Strength Co started up in 2020. Their dumbbells look to be similar in quality and specs to Rogue, with bronze bushings and dual snap rings on each end.
Weight It Out Dumbbell Handles
| Material | Steel |
| Handle | 32mm, 5″ long |
| Overall Length | 16″ |
| Price | $220/pair (use code TWOREP for 5% off) |
Weight It Out started up in 2020 and is best known for their clear-coated steel plates.
The shoulders on these handles (the part at the inside ends of the sleeves) are notably very thin, designed to let you load a little more weight than you can on other 16″ handles.
If you liked this article, also see our showcase of USA-made plates!
Hi are American barbell series 1 dumbbells made in the USA?
Just the handle. The heads are made in Germany.
Has there been any changes for dumbbells?
What I have listed now is pretty current, as far as I know. John Del Duca posted some more suggestions in the comments (thanks again John for taking the time!) that I added in, but some of the remaining ones I don’t think are USA made or they have very limited sizes. The Wright Octo dumbbells were discontinued and are almost all gone. I need to remove them next update.
Additional dumbbell makers:
Micro Gainz – handles
Kabuki Strength – kyu bells
Havak – dumbbells
Ironmind – handles
Strength Co. – handles
Intek – Kraft RAW steel dumbbells
Intek – Delta Series dumbbells
Fat Bastard Barbell Company – handles
Grom Designs – dumbbells
MUTT Made in USA – Cast iron dumbbells
Gorilla Strength Equipment – handles
Black Iron Strength – dumbbells
Black Widow Training Gear – handles
Ivanko – Urethane Dumbbells
Great, I’ve got a bunch of those added!
Hammer Strength (Life Fitness) – Urethane Dumbbells
Hi-Temp Dumbbells
Wright Equipment Precision Steel Dumbbells
They look nice! I’ll be adding those and a few others mentioned in the next update.
Kabuki – Kroc Dumbbell
Brutus Tools – Circus Dumbbells
Intek – Kraft steel loadable dumbbell handles
Biggins Iron – Cast Iron Dumbbell
Kabuki – Mayhem dumbbells
Hello, what is the best value for a USA sourced and made rubber dumbbell set 5-75lbs?
It looks like Wright has discontinued theirs. I will have to remove it. Unfortunately there are no other USA made rubber dumbbells that I know of currently being made. You would have to go with iron or urethane.