Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: construction / US states

US states by employer establishments: construction

California had the highest employer establishments: construction of 51 states in 2017, at 74,722. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 451. The median was 8,753 and the figure for the United States was 715,641. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest74,722California
Lowest451District of Columbia
Median8,75351 states
United States715,641History

Map of states, 2017

Alabama: 7,535 countAlaska: 2,461 countArizona: 12,380 countArkansas: 5,439 countCalifornia: 74,722 countColorado: 18,552 countConnecticut: 7,905 countDelaware: 2,251 countDistrict of Columbia: 451 countFlorida: 53,345 countGeorgia: 18,192 countHawaii: 2,881 countIdaho: 6,949 countIllinois: 29,171 countIndiana: 13,456 countIowa: 8,753 countKansas: 7,031 countKentucky: 7,335 countLouisiana: 8,139 countMaine: 5,044 countMaryland: 14,192 countMassachusetts: 19,256 countMichigan: 19,262 countMinnesota: 16,550 countMississippi: 3,849 countMissouri: 13,492 countMontana: 5,476 countNebraska: 6,481 countNevada: 4,979 countNew Hampshire: 4,174 countNew Jersey: 21,622 countNew Mexico: 4,333 countNew York: 49,123 countNorth Carolina: 23,157 countNorth Dakota: 2,996 countOhio: 19,907 countOklahoma: 8,359 countOregon: 12,871 countPennsylvania: 26,689 countRhode Island: 3,161 countSouth Carolina: 9,853 countSouth Dakota: 3,394 countTennessee: 10,048 countTexas: 45,044 countUtah: 9,601 countVermont: 2,698 countVirginia: 19,748 countWashington: 23,660 countWest Virginia: 3,085 countWisconsin: 13,867 countWyoming: 2,722 count
  • Under 3,200
  • 3,200 to 6,100
  • 6,100 to 8,800
  • 8,800 to 14K
  • 14K to 21K
  • 21K and over
count, 2017. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2017

California: 74,722 countCalifornia74,722Florida: 53,345 countFlorida53,345New York: 49,123 countNew York49,123Texas: 45,044 countTexas45,044Illinois: 29,171 countIllinois29,171Pennsylvania: 26,689 countPennsylvania26,689Washington: 23,660 countWashington23,660North Carolina: 23,157 countNorth Carolina23,157New Jersey: 21,622 countNew Jersey21,622Ohio: 19,907 countOhio19,907Virginia: 19,748 countVirginia19,748Michigan: 19,262 countMichigan19,262Massachusetts: 19,256 countMassachusetts19,256Colorado: 18,552 countColorado18,552Georgia: 18,192 countGeorgia18,192Minnesota: 16,550 countMinnesota16,550Maryland: 14,192 countMaryland14,192Wisconsin: 13,867 countWisconsin13,867Missouri: 13,492 countMissouri13,492Indiana: 13,456 countIndiana13,456Oregon: 12,871 countOregon12,871Arizona: 12,380 countArizona12,380Tennessee: 10,048 countTennessee10,048South Carolina: 9,853 countSouth Carolina9,853Utah: 9,601 countUtah9,601Iowa: 8,753 countIowa8,753Oklahoma: 8,359 countOklahoma8,359Louisiana: 8,139 countLouisiana8,139Connecticut: 7,905 countConnecticut7,905Alabama: 7,535 countAlabama7,535Kentucky: 7,335 countKentucky7,335Kansas: 7,031 countKansas7,031Idaho: 6,949 countIdaho6,949Nebraska: 6,481 countNebraska6,481Montana: 5,476 countMontana5,476Arkansas: 5,439 countArkansas5,439Maine: 5,044 countMaine5,044Nevada: 4,979 countNevada4,979New Mexico: 4,333 countNew Mexico4,333New Hampshire: 4,174 countNew Hampshire4,174Mississippi: 3,849 countMississippi3,849South Dakota: 3,394 countSouth Dakota3,394Rhode Island: 3,161 countRhode Island3,161West Virginia: 3,085 countWest Virginia3,085North Dakota: 2,996 countNorth Dakota2,996Hawaii: 2,881 countHawaii2,881Wyoming: 2,722 countWyoming2,722Vermont: 2,698 countVermont2,698Alaska: 2,461 countAlaska2,461Delaware: 2,251 countDelaware2,251District of Columbia: 451 countDistrict of Columbia451California: 74,722 countCalifornia74,722Florida: 53,345 countFlorida53,345New York: 49,123 countNew York49,123Texas: 45,044 countTexas45,044Illinois: 29,171 countIllinois29,171Pennsylvania: 26,689 countPennsylvania26,689Washington: 23,660 countWashington23,660North Carolina: 23,157 countNorth Carolina23,157New Jersey: 21,622 countNew Jersey21,622Ohio: 19,907 countOhio19,907Virginia: 19,748 countVirginia19,748Michigan: 19,262 countMichigan19,262Massachusetts: 19,256 countMassachusetts19,256Colorado: 18,552 countColorado18,552Georgia: 18,192 countGeorgia18,192Minnesota: 16,550 countMinnesota16,550Maryland: 14,192 countMaryland14,192Wisconsin: 13,867 countWisconsin13,867Missouri: 13,492 countMissouri13,492Indiana: 13,456 countIndiana13,456Oregon: 12,871 countOregon12,871Arizona: 12,380 countArizona12,380Tennessee: 10,048 countTennessee10,048South Carolina: 9,853 countSouth Carolina9,853Utah: 9,601 countUtah9,601Iowa: 8,753 countIowa8,753Oklahoma: 8,359 countOklahoma8,359Louisiana: 8,139 countLouisiana8,139Connecticut: 7,905 countConnecticut7,905Alabama: 7,535 countAlabama7,535Kentucky: 7,335 countKentucky7,335Kansas: 7,031 countKansas7,031Idaho: 6,949 countIdaho6,949Nebraska: 6,481 countNebraska6,481Montana: 5,476 countMontana5,476Arkansas: 5,439 countArkansas5,439Maine: 5,044 countMaine5,044Nevada: 4,979 countNevada4,979New Mexico: 4,333 countNew Mexico4,333New Hampshire: 4,174 countNew Hampshire4,174Mississippi: 3,849 countMississippi3,849South Dakota: 3,394 countSouth Dakota3,394Rhode Island: 3,161 countRhode Island3,161West Virginia: 3,085 countWest Virginia3,085North Dakota: 2,996 countNorth Dakota2,996Hawaii: 2,881 countHawaii2,881Wyoming: 2,722 countWyoming2,722Vermont: 2,698 countVermont2,698Alaska: 2,461 countAlaska2,461Delaware: 2,251 countDelaware2,251District of Columbia: 451 countDistrict of Columbia451
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2017
count		Change on 2016
1California74,722+3.8%
2Florida53,345+5%
3New York49,123+1.4%
4Texas45,044+4.4%
5Illinois29,171+0.9%
6Pennsylvania26,689+0.2%
7Washington23,660+5.6%
8North Carolina23,157+3.9%
9New Jersey21,622+1.1%
10Ohio19,907+0.9%
11Virginia19,748+1.5%
12Michigan19,262+2.4%
13Massachusetts19,256+3.4%
14Colorado18,552+4.6%
15Georgia18,192+4.4%
16Minnesota16,550+1.2%
17Maryland14,192+0.7%
18Wisconsin13,867+1.9%
19Missouri13,492+1.7%
20Indiana13,456+2.5%
21Oregon12,871+5.2%
22Arizona12,380+3.9%
23Tennessee10,048+3.2%
24South Carolina9,853+4.7%
25Utah9,601+4.9%
26Iowa8,753+1.5%
27Oklahoma8,359+1.4%
28Louisiana8,139+0.6%
29Connecticut7,905-0.7%
30Alabama7,535+1.5%
31Kentucky7,335+1.4%
32Kansas7,031+0.6%
33Idaho6,949+7.9%
34Nebraska6,481+2%
35Montana5,476+2.8%
36Arkansas5,439+2.8%
37Maine5,044+2.1%
38Nevada4,979+2.9%
39New Mexico4,333+0.1%
40New Hampshire4,174+4.2%
41Mississippi3,849+1.4%
42South Dakota3,394+0.4%
43Rhode Island3,161+1.5%
44West Virginia3,085-1.5%
45North Dakota2,996-1.4%
46Hawaii2,881+0.4%
47Wyoming2,722+0.5%
48Vermont2,698-0.4%
49Alaska2,461-2.4%
50Delaware2,251+1%
51District of Columbia451+0.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of establishments with paid employees in construction (NAICS 23), from the U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns.

County Business Patterns: establishments (single physical locations, not firms) with paid employees during the pay period including 12 March. Excludes the self-employed and businesses without employees (nonemployer_establishments_*), government employers, crop and animal production, rail transportation, the Postal Service and private households. Establishment counts are not perturbed; the noise Census adds since 2017 applies to employment and payroll, which are not served here. Published about 18 months after the reference year.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: construction, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 26 Nov. 2019, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: construction, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2017,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: construction, 2017}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2017. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: construction, 2017
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/11/26
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: construction?

California, with 74,722 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: construction?

District of Columbia, with 451 in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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