With so many socket set brands out there, finding the right one for your needs can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. Previously, some highly-rated options that have topped our list include Snap-On, SK Hand Tools, and Mac Tools. However, while things like durability should definitely top your list of qualifications for buying a socket set, you may want to consider letting your dollars speak for you in other ways, such as supporting your local tool manufacturing industry. Whether it is to help develop American talent or give your money to inject money into the American economy, there are plenty of reasons to buy socket sets manufactured in the USA. But, how does one know when it is?

These days, it's pretty common for even iconic American brands to offload parts of their supply chain to other parts of the world to cut costs and be able to sell their tools at competitive prices. Flooded by marketing terms, it's important to note that "Made in America" and "Manufactured in America" can mean two different things. When it comes to meeting the "Made in USA" standard, the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) shares that there are two ways to do it: qualified and unqualified claims. To help you, we've listed several brands that offer sets with both, plus we share more about how they made it to our list at the end of the article. But before that, what does "Made in the USA" actually mean?