A while back I wrote a post (which probably needs updating) about the best mattresses not made in China. As mattresses tend to do, they range in price from around $1400 to $1800.
My own personal philosophy towards mattresses is that it’s worth the investment for something you’ll be spending one-third of your life on. On the other hand, it’s a pretty well-known fact that mattress manufacturer enjoy profit margins of anywhere from 40% to 80% on their products.
So here’s a little secret. If you go for a mattress that’s a quarter of the price, it might be a little less luxurious, but it’ll still be just fine.
Hint: while sites like Wirecutter have swooned over companies like Novilla which makes their mattresses in Indonesia, “Novilla” is actually Guangdong Sweetnight Home Co. Ltd. That’s right: China manufacturers have gotten to the point where they can make up a brand, get the New York Times to write about it, and sell millions of them without customers knowing that the majority of the profits are going to China.
And just as I did with the list of “expensive” mattresses, I’m weeding out brands like Nectar that are coy about where they manufacture.
The Best Inexpensive Mattresses Not Made in China
1. Zinus Mattress – Made in Indonesia
I was a little wary of this one, as I’ve instinctually learned to ignore products from brands I never heard of on Amazon, especially ones written in ALL CAPS. But this looks like a legit brand that’s run by the Hyundai Department Store Group, the same folks who run Hyundai Motors.
If you can’t afford an American brand made in the USA, you can’t do much better than a South Korean brand made in Indonesia, two of America’s closest allies in Asia.
You also can’t do much better than this mattress, it seems. As of this writing it has over 16,000 positive reviews with a star rating of over 4.3/5. It uses high-quality CerifPUR-US certified foam with an OEKO-TEX certified mattress cover. That means the materials are safe. It’s a hybrid, meaning it uses a combination of memory foam and individually wrapped coils. It’s classified as “medium firm”, meaning not too plush, not too hard.
The reviews rave about the professionalism of the delivery and how comfortable and cooling the mattress is. It was also named by WireCutter as its favorite cheap mattress.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this bed is very much on par with the more expensive ones, but Hyundai decided (as they did when they introduced their cars to the US) to undercut on price to gain market share. At $260, you can buy one of these for your room, the kids’ rooms, and the guest room all for the price of what you’d pay for one of those expensive mattresses.
2. Siena Mattress – Made in Taiwan
Siena is owned by Ashley Home, which also owns Nectar, DreamCloud, Cloverlane, and Awara brands. They don’t publicize this very widely, of course, because why would you buy a $2000 Cloverlane mattress when you can get a perfectly good Siena for under $500?
Siena also has the best of both worlds: memory foam with innerspring coils. This one is a little more on the firmer side than Zinus. It’s a “mattress in a box”, meaning you don’t have delivery people put it together for you, you just open the box and see it set itself up in your room until it reaches its full size in 24 hours (hint: don’t open it in the hallway).
I love the idea of supporting Taiwan. This means that not only is a portion of your purchase NOT going to fund the People’s Liberation Army, it’s going to fund those who will need to defend against it.
You can buy one at Siena’s site directly, or you can go to Amazon.
3. Novaform Gel Memory Foam Mattress – Made in USA
If you happen to be a Costco member, you can get a deal and a half on this Novaform bed. On Novaform’s Web site they say that these are “Proudly Made in the USA”. On their FAQ they’re a little more clear: “Novaform® foam is proudly made in the USA, while most covers are imported.” And you know where “imported” comes from.
But props to them for sourcing the foam from the USA, as well as the manufacturing, which seems to be done out of Pennsylvania. At $580, they’re still considered relatively cheap.
4. Bear Original – Made in USA
Sleep Foundation rates this their #1 pick for an inexpensive mattress, as does New York magazine. Wired magazine named it the “best overall mattress for side sleepers”. At $998 retail for a Queen it just toes the line of being “cheap”, but they routinely go on sale where you can get them for under $700.
Bear Mattress was acquired in 2022 by a company called Cerberus, which also acquired Brooklyn Bedding and Helix Sleep. Usually being acquired by a private equity firm is the kiss of death, but so far they’ve allowed their acquisitions to continue making their products in the US, a wise move. Bear Mattresses continue to be made out of their Arizona factory
5. The Essential by Layla – Made in USA
Watch the Founder’s Story video on this page. It’s downright refreshing to hear his philosophy to making and selling mattresses, and even nicer to know that he managed to do it all in the US.
One very cool feature about this mattress is that it provides cooling and air flow not usually found in memory foam mattresses. They explain on their product page that this has a lot to do with the way they manufacture their foam. A lot of reviewers like how it provides pressure point relief and is longer lasting than other memory foams. And it does use CertiPUR-US certified foams.
6. Brooklyn Bedding Essential – Made in USA
This mattress from the sister company of Bear Mattress has also gotten a lot of nice reviews from around the Web, and it’s made in the USA (of domestic and foreign material, but what can you do?)
They use the same materials from their luxury line, at a much more affordable price (it lists at $932, but on sale can go as low as $699).
Brooklyn Bedding is actually not named after Brooklyn, New York but after the founder’s daughter Brooklyn. The founder, John Merwin, was one of the first to launch the bed-in-a-box concept in 2008, and he went on to build his own factory in Arizona, which also manufactures a number of private label mattresses. They also produce a lower end line called Dreamfoam which is even more affordable.
That’s my rundown. If you know of other affordable and highly-regarded mattresses not made in China, please let us know in the comments!
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It’s been a while since I did my research, but we went with Tuft & Needle as an alternative to the other foam, expanding, box mattress brands. I remember vaguely finding info that said it was a all-US brand, including manufacturing in NC? At least the foam maybe was made-in-USA and included some recovered post-consumer material……nothing is 100% in the modern global economy but it made me feel good enough to buy for all of our bedrooms….hoping I wasn’t misled.
I think you’re still okay. Tuft and Needle has been through a lot recently; they were acquired by Serta Simmons Bedding in 2018, and then Serta Simmons declared bankruptcy in January 2023 (they eventually restructured and got out of bankruptcy).
From what I can tell they are still made in the USA, but strangely they seem to hide that information on their Web site and Amazon listings. It might be that Serta Simmons lawyers are being overly cautious (in one of Serta Simmon’s reports they say that they “use raw materials from Italy, Mexico, China, India, and Poland: and “do not use cottons sourced in China.”)
Interesting tidbit: the founders of Tuft and Needle left Serta Simmons in 2021 and started a new brand called Boring Mattress Co., citing their displeasure with the state of the mattress business that Tuft & Needle was intended to disrupt, but ultimately became a part of.
They do say about their new product that “Our mattress is designed and assembled in Phoenix, Arizona”. They don’t mention how much of their raw materials come from China, but then again neither do most others.