Industry · NAICS 23

Construction

The United States has 814,557 employer establishments in construction (24.2 per 10,000 residents), employing 7,659,459 people at an average annual pay of $76,580, plus 3,042,704 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
814,557
3,042,704 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
24.2
Paid employees
7,659,459
Average annual pay
$76,580

Places ranked by residents per establishment

Places ranked by residents per establishment: more residents for each business, fewer competitors per resident. A count, not a measure of demand: retirement areas, low incomes or tourism change what a business needs.

Places
State
Size
Construction by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,1971351,1358.80.36×1,144$66,721423
2McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX901,0967981,1298.90.37×6,737$51,61618,656
3El Centro, CA180,6831621,11590.37×1,601$65,873960
4Brownsville-Harlingen, TX428,9064131,0399.60.40×3,072$50,4616,724
5Laredo, TX271,9422721,000100.41×1,918$45,9594,220
6Lumberton, NC118,00513289411.20.46×1,074$55,6021,749
7Corbin, KY149,59317187511.40.47×1,250$73,9821,574
8Anniston-Oxford, AL116,34113784911.80.49×957$59,769909
9Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,88918084411.90.49×3,958$75,364720
10Warner Robins, GA200,73024382612.10.50×2,327$66,5291,675
11Memphis, TN-MS-AR1,342,3861,70978512.70.53×22,998$72,75312,011
12Rome, GA100,19312878312.80.53×936$55,5781,015
13Fayetteville, NC392,34550278212.80.53×5,660$69,3952,171
14Gadsden, AL103,22713775313.30.55×985$59,2181,196
15Dalton, GA145,31519574513.40.55×1,662$72,9211,707
16Florence, SC200,02227173813.50.56×1,913$63,2261,281
17Battle Creek, MI133,33118173713.60.56×1,391$80,876831
18Albany, GA145,54819973113.70.57×2,402$60,8331,040
19Springfield, OH135,34218672813.70.57×1,121$60,971901
20Wheeling, WV-OH135,69018971813.90.58×1,662$64,020679
21Lawton, OK127,338178715140.58×1,378$53,205731
22Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH113,680159715140.58×1,195$62,164507
23Bakersfield-Delano, CA917,5991,287713140.58×14,570$68,4004,498
24Gulfport-Biloxi, MS422,38359471114.10.58×5,970$60,6515,143
25Merced, CA294,31941570914.10.58×3,341$63,1151,209

1–25 of 398 places

Sources: County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024).

  • Residents per establishment is the place's population estimate for 2023 divided by its establishments; more residents per business means fewer competitors per resident. Places with fewer than the minimum establishments are left out because a handful of businesses makes the ratio jump around.
  • Metro areas are made of whole counties and their figures are the exact sums of those counties'. A metro area is listed under its principal state.
  • This compares counts of businesses with counts of residents. It does not measure demand, spending power, visitors, the size or quality of the businesses, or whether a market is open. Employment and payroll carry the Census Bureau's noise infusion.
  • County Business Patterns 2023 uses NAICS 2017 codes; the nonemployer figures use NAICS 2022. Industries are matched by name between editions.
  • Growth needs a second reference year of County Business Patterns in the same industry classification; only 2023 is loaded, so there is no growth column yet.

Federal contracts in this industry

Federal agencies obligated $70.3B on contracts under NAICS 23 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (35,668 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Nogales, AZ$2.9B4.2%
    16 awards
  2. El Paso, TX$2.8B3.9%
    174 awards
  3. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$2.6B3.6%
    530 awards
  4. Rio Grande City-Roma, TX$2.5B3.6%
    8 awards
  5. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL$2.3B3.3%
    292 awards
  6. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$2.3B3.2%
    3,167 awards
  7. Laredo, TX$1.8B2.5%
    28 awards
  8. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ$1.7B2.5%
    174 awards
  9. El Centro, CA$1.7B2.4%
    45 awards
  10. Tucson, AZ$1.4B2.0%
    167 awards

Counties

  1. Brewster County, TX$6.5B9.2%
    12 awards
  2. Santa Cruz County, AZ$2.9B4.2%
    16 awards
  3. San Diego County, CA$2.6B3.6%
    530 awards
  4. Starr County, TX$2.5B3.6%
    8 awards
  5. Palm Beach County, FL$2.2B3.1%
    71 awards
  6. Webb County, TX$1.8B2.5%
    28 awards
  7. Hidalgo County, NM$1.8B2.5%
    3 awards
  8. Maricopa County, AZ$1.7B2.5%
    161 awards
  9. Imperial County, CA$1.7B2.4%
    45 awards
  10. El Paso County, TX$1.6B2.3%
    167 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Laredo city, TX$1.7B2.4%
    26 awards
  2. Tempe city, AZ$1.6B2.3%
    3 awards
  3. El Paso city, TX$1.6B2.3%
    85 awards
  4. San Diego city, CA$1.5B2.1%
    326 awards
  5. Tucson city, AZ$1.4B2.0%
    142 awards
  6. Pico Rivera city, CA$731.1M1.0%
    2 awards
  7. Washington city, DC$704.4M1.0%
    1,448 awards
  8. Edinburg city, TX$609.7M0.9%
    14 awards
  9. Bethesda CDP, MD$492.8M0.7%
    605 awards
  10. Richland city, WA$476.6M0.7%
    8 awards

Where the work was performed, as agencies report it (often the contractor's office). Metro areas are the exact sums of their counties. Cities are estimated: each action's county money split by the share of its ZIP code's land inside the city, so a city's figure is part of its county's.

USAspending.gov, prime award contract transactions (FPDS)