Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: construction / US states

US states by employer establishments: construction

California had the highest employer establishments: construction of 51 states in 2018, at 77,548. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 468. The median was 8,797 and the figure for the United States was 733,689. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest77,548California
Lowest468District of Columbia
Median8,79751 states
United States733,689History

Map of states, 2018

Alabama: 7,674 countAlaska: 2,465 countArizona: 12,724 countArkansas: 5,522 countCalifornia: 77,548 countColorado: 19,167 countConnecticut: 7,858 countDelaware: 2,286 countDistrict of Columbia: 468 countFlorida: 56,574 countGeorgia: 18,823 countHawaii: 2,891 countIdaho: 7,505 countIllinois: 29,310 countIndiana: 13,640 countIowa: 8,797 countKansas: 7,124 countKentucky: 7,473 countLouisiana: 8,134 countMaine: 5,190 countMaryland: 14,199 countMassachusetts: 19,680 countMichigan: 19,642 countMinnesota: 16,781 countMississippi: 3,890 countMissouri: 13,540 countMontana: 5,656 countNebraska: 6,527 countNevada: 5,146 countNew Hampshire: 4,245 countNew Jersey: 21,751 countNew Mexico: 4,362 countNew York: 50,032 countNorth Carolina: 23,786 countNorth Dakota: 3,011 countOhio: 20,011 countOklahoma: 8,287 countOregon: 13,581 countPennsylvania: 27,045 countRhode Island: 3,264 countSouth Carolina: 10,225 countSouth Dakota: 3,376 countTennessee: 10,311 countTexas: 46,964 countUtah: 10,161 countVermont: 2,709 countVirginia: 19,969 countWashington: 24,654 countWest Virginia: 3,028 countWisconsin: 13,960 countWyoming: 2,723 count
  • Under 3,300
  • 3,300 to 6,200
  • 6,200 to 8,800
  • 8,800 to 14K
  • 14K to 21K
  • 21K and over
count, 2018. 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, 2018

California: 77,548 countCalifornia77,548Florida: 56,574 countFlorida56,574New York: 50,032 countNew York50,032Texas: 46,964 countTexas46,964Illinois: 29,310 countIllinois29,310Pennsylvania: 27,045 countPennsylvania27,045Washington: 24,654 countWashington24,654North Carolina: 23,786 countNorth Carolina23,786New Jersey: 21,751 countNew Jersey21,751Ohio: 20,011 countOhio20,011Virginia: 19,969 countVirginia19,969Massachusetts: 19,680 countMassachusetts19,680Michigan: 19,642 countMichigan19,642Colorado: 19,167 countColorado19,167Georgia: 18,823 countGeorgia18,823Minnesota: 16,781 countMinnesota16,781Maryland: 14,199 countMaryland14,199Wisconsin: 13,960 countWisconsin13,960Indiana: 13,640 countIndiana13,640Oregon: 13,581 countOregon13,581Missouri: 13,540 countMissouri13,540Arizona: 12,724 countArizona12,724Tennessee: 10,311 countTennessee10,311South Carolina: 10,225 countSouth Carolina10,225Utah: 10,161 countUtah10,161Iowa: 8,797 countIowa8,797Oklahoma: 8,287 countOklahoma8,287Louisiana: 8,134 countLouisiana8,134Connecticut: 7,858 countConnecticut7,858Alabama: 7,674 countAlabama7,674Idaho: 7,505 countIdaho7,505Kentucky: 7,473 countKentucky7,473Kansas: 7,124 countKansas7,124Nebraska: 6,527 countNebraska6,527Montana: 5,656 countMontana5,656Arkansas: 5,522 countArkansas5,522Maine: 5,190 countMaine5,190Nevada: 5,146 countNevada5,146New Mexico: 4,362 countNew Mexico4,362New Hampshire: 4,245 countNew Hampshire4,245Mississippi: 3,890 countMississippi3,890South Dakota: 3,376 countSouth Dakota3,376Rhode Island: 3,264 countRhode Island3,264West Virginia: 3,028 countWest Virginia3,028North Dakota: 3,011 countNorth Dakota3,011Hawaii: 2,891 countHawaii2,891Wyoming: 2,723 countWyoming2,723Vermont: 2,709 countVermont2,709Alaska: 2,465 countAlaska2,465Delaware: 2,286 countDelaware2,286District of Columbia: 468 countDistrict of Columbia468California: 77,548 countCalifornia77,548Florida: 56,574 countFlorida56,574New York: 50,032 countNew York50,032Texas: 46,964 countTexas46,964Illinois: 29,310 countIllinois29,310Pennsylvania: 27,045 countPennsylvania27,045Washington: 24,654 countWashington24,654North Carolina: 23,786 countNorth Carolina23,786New Jersey: 21,751 countNew Jersey21,751Ohio: 20,011 countOhio20,011Virginia: 19,969 countVirginia19,969Massachusetts: 19,680 countMassachusetts19,680Michigan: 19,642 countMichigan19,642Colorado: 19,167 countColorado19,167Georgia: 18,823 countGeorgia18,823Minnesota: 16,781 countMinnesota16,781Maryland: 14,199 countMaryland14,199Wisconsin: 13,960 countWisconsin13,960Indiana: 13,640 countIndiana13,640Oregon: 13,581 countOregon13,581Missouri: 13,540 countMissouri13,540Arizona: 12,724 countArizona12,724Tennessee: 10,311 countTennessee10,311South Carolina: 10,225 countSouth Carolina10,225Utah: 10,161 countUtah10,161Iowa: 8,797 countIowa8,797Oklahoma: 8,287 countOklahoma8,287Louisiana: 8,134 countLouisiana8,134Connecticut: 7,858 countConnecticut7,858Alabama: 7,674 countAlabama7,674Idaho: 7,505 countIdaho7,505Kentucky: 7,473 countKentucky7,473Kansas: 7,124 countKansas7,124Nebraska: 6,527 countNebraska6,527Montana: 5,656 countMontana5,656Arkansas: 5,522 countArkansas5,522Maine: 5,190 countMaine5,190Nevada: 5,146 countNevada5,146New Mexico: 4,362 countNew Mexico4,362New Hampshire: 4,245 countNew Hampshire4,245Mississippi: 3,890 countMississippi3,890South Dakota: 3,376 countSouth Dakota3,376Rhode Island: 3,264 countRhode Island3,264West Virginia: 3,028 countWest Virginia3,028North Dakota: 3,011 countNorth Dakota3,011Hawaii: 2,891 countHawaii2,891Wyoming: 2,723 countWyoming2,723Vermont: 2,709 countVermont2,709Alaska: 2,465 countAlaska2,465Delaware: 2,286 countDelaware2,286District of Columbia: 468 countDistrict of Columbia468
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

RankStates2018
count		Change on 2017
1California77,548+3.8%
2Florida56,574+6.1%
3New York50,032+1.9%
4Texas46,964+4.3%
5Illinois29,310+0.5%
6Pennsylvania27,045+1.3%
7Washington24,654+4.2%
8North Carolina23,786+2.7%
9New Jersey21,751+0.6%
10Ohio20,011+0.5%
11Virginia19,969+1.1%
12Massachusetts19,680+2.2%
13Michigan19,642+2%
14Colorado19,167+3.3%
15Georgia18,823+3.5%
16Minnesota16,781+1.4%
17Maryland14,1990%
18Wisconsin13,960+0.7%
19Indiana13,640+1.4%
20Oregon13,581+5.5%
21Missouri13,540+0.4%
22Arizona12,724+2.8%
23Tennessee10,311+2.6%
24South Carolina10,225+3.8%
25Utah10,161+5.8%
26Iowa8,797+0.5%
27Oklahoma8,287-0.9%
28Louisiana8,134-0.1%
29Connecticut7,858-0.6%
30Alabama7,674+1.8%
31Idaho7,505+8%
32Kentucky7,473+1.9%
33Kansas7,124+1.3%
34Nebraska6,527+0.7%
35Montana5,656+3.3%
36Arkansas5,522+1.5%
37Maine5,190+2.9%
38Nevada5,146+3.4%
39New Mexico4,362+0.7%
40New Hampshire4,245+1.7%
41Mississippi3,890+1.1%
42South Dakota3,376-0.5%
43Rhode Island3,264+3.3%
44West Virginia3,028-1.8%
45North Dakota3,011+0.5%
46Hawaii2,891+0.3%
47Wyoming2,7230%
48Vermont2,709+0.4%
49Alaska2,465+0.2%
50Delaware2,286+1.6%
51District of Columbia468+3.8%

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/2018/. 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. (2020). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: construction, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 June 2020, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: construction, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2018. 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/2018/. 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, 2018
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/06/25
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2018.
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/2018/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank US states by employer establishments: construction using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"cbp_establishments_construction","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=cbp_establishments_construction&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: construction?

California, with 77,548 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: construction?

District of Columbia, with 468 in 2018.

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.

US states: more rankings