Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: construction / US states

US states by employer establishments: construction

California had the highest employer establishments: construction of 51 states in 2019, at 79,551. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 480. The median was 8,746 and the figure for the United States was 745,207. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest79,551California
Lowest480District of Columbia
Median8,74651 states
United States745,207History

Map of states, 2019

Alabama: 7,792 countAlaska: 2,527 countArizona: 13,089 countArkansas: 5,541 countCalifornia: 79,551 countColorado: 19,472 countConnecticut: 7,930 countDelaware: 2,333 countDistrict of Columbia: 480 countFlorida: 58,565 countGeorgia: 19,413 countHawaii: 2,888 countIdaho: 8,011 countIllinois: 29,204 countIndiana: 13,685 countIowa: 8,746 countKansas: 7,060 countKentucky: 7,474 countLouisiana: 8,016 countMaine: 5,252 countMaryland: 14,280 countMassachusetts: 20,095 countMichigan: 19,768 countMinnesota: 16,859 countMississippi: 3,865 countMissouri: 13,575 countMontana: 5,703 countNebraska: 6,512 countNevada: 5,232 countNew Hampshire: 4,383 countNew Jersey: 21,879 countNew Mexico: 4,352 countNew York: 50,526 countNorth Carolina: 24,730 countNorth Dakota: 2,950 countOhio: 20,102 countOklahoma: 8,321 countOregon: 13,771 countPennsylvania: 27,346 countRhode Island: 3,318 countSouth Carolina: 10,411 countSouth Dakota: 3,369 countTennessee: 10,563 countTexas: 47,982 countUtah: 10,719 countVermont: 2,672 countVirginia: 20,113 countWashington: 25,123 countWest Virginia: 3,029 countWisconsin: 13,915 countWyoming: 2,715 count
  • Under 3,300
  • 3,300 to 6,200
  • 6,200 to 8,700
  • 8,700 to 14K
  • 14K to 21K
  • 21K and over
count, 2019. 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, 2019

California: 79,551 countCalifornia79,551Florida: 58,565 countFlorida58,565New York: 50,526 countNew York50,526Texas: 47,982 countTexas47,982Illinois: 29,204 countIllinois29,204Pennsylvania: 27,346 countPennsylvania27,346Washington: 25,123 countWashington25,123North Carolina: 24,730 countNorth Carolina24,730New Jersey: 21,879 countNew Jersey21,879Virginia: 20,113 countVirginia20,113Ohio: 20,102 countOhio20,102Massachusetts: 20,095 countMassachusetts20,095Michigan: 19,768 countMichigan19,768Colorado: 19,472 countColorado19,472Georgia: 19,413 countGeorgia19,413Minnesota: 16,859 countMinnesota16,859Maryland: 14,280 countMaryland14,280Wisconsin: 13,915 countWisconsin13,915Oregon: 13,771 countOregon13,771Indiana: 13,685 countIndiana13,685Missouri: 13,575 countMissouri13,575Arizona: 13,089 countArizona13,089Utah: 10,719 countUtah10,719Tennessee: 10,563 countTennessee10,563South Carolina: 10,411 countSouth Carolina10,411Iowa: 8,746 countIowa8,746Oklahoma: 8,321 countOklahoma8,321Louisiana: 8,016 countLouisiana8,016Idaho: 8,011 countIdaho8,011Connecticut: 7,930 countConnecticut7,930Alabama: 7,792 countAlabama7,792Kentucky: 7,474 countKentucky7,474Kansas: 7,060 countKansas7,060Nebraska: 6,512 countNebraska6,512Montana: 5,703 countMontana5,703Arkansas: 5,541 countArkansas5,541Maine: 5,252 countMaine5,252Nevada: 5,232 countNevada5,232New Hampshire: 4,383 countNew Hampshire4,383New Mexico: 4,352 countNew Mexico4,352Mississippi: 3,865 countMississippi3,865South Dakota: 3,369 countSouth Dakota3,369Rhode Island: 3,318 countRhode Island3,318West Virginia: 3,029 countWest Virginia3,029North Dakota: 2,950 countNorth Dakota2,950Hawaii: 2,888 countHawaii2,888Wyoming: 2,715 countWyoming2,715Vermont: 2,672 countVermont2,672Alaska: 2,527 countAlaska2,527Delaware: 2,333 countDelaware2,333District of Columbia: 480 countDistrict of Columbia480California: 79,551 countCalifornia79,551Florida: 58,565 countFlorida58,565New York: 50,526 countNew York50,526Texas: 47,982 countTexas47,982Illinois: 29,204 countIllinois29,204Pennsylvania: 27,346 countPennsylvania27,346Washington: 25,123 countWashington25,123North Carolina: 24,730 countNorth Carolina24,730New Jersey: 21,879 countNew Jersey21,879Virginia: 20,113 countVirginia20,113Ohio: 20,102 countOhio20,102Massachusetts: 20,095 countMassachusetts20,095Michigan: 19,768 countMichigan19,768Colorado: 19,472 countColorado19,472Georgia: 19,413 countGeorgia19,413Minnesota: 16,859 countMinnesota16,859Maryland: 14,280 countMaryland14,280Wisconsin: 13,915 countWisconsin13,915Oregon: 13,771 countOregon13,771Indiana: 13,685 countIndiana13,685Missouri: 13,575 countMissouri13,575Arizona: 13,089 countArizona13,089Utah: 10,719 countUtah10,719Tennessee: 10,563 countTennessee10,563South Carolina: 10,411 countSouth Carolina10,411Iowa: 8,746 countIowa8,746Oklahoma: 8,321 countOklahoma8,321Louisiana: 8,016 countLouisiana8,016Idaho: 8,011 countIdaho8,011Connecticut: 7,930 countConnecticut7,930Alabama: 7,792 countAlabama7,792Kentucky: 7,474 countKentucky7,474Kansas: 7,060 countKansas7,060Nebraska: 6,512 countNebraska6,512Montana: 5,703 countMontana5,703Arkansas: 5,541 countArkansas5,541Maine: 5,252 countMaine5,252Nevada: 5,232 countNevada5,232New Hampshire: 4,383 countNew Hampshire4,383New Mexico: 4,352 countNew Mexico4,352Mississippi: 3,865 countMississippi3,865South Dakota: 3,369 countSouth Dakota3,369Rhode Island: 3,318 countRhode Island3,318West Virginia: 3,029 countWest Virginia3,029North Dakota: 2,950 countNorth Dakota2,950Hawaii: 2,888 countHawaii2,888Wyoming: 2,715 countWyoming2,715Vermont: 2,672 countVermont2,672Alaska: 2,527 countAlaska2,527Delaware: 2,333 countDelaware2,333District of Columbia: 480 countDistrict of Columbia480
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

RankStates2019
count		Change on 2018
1California79,551+2.6%
2Florida58,565+3.5%
3New York50,526+1%
4Texas47,982+2.2%
5Illinois29,204-0.4%
6Pennsylvania27,346+1.1%
7Washington25,123+1.9%
8North Carolina24,730+4%
9New Jersey21,879+0.6%
10Virginia20,113+0.7%
11Ohio20,102+0.5%
12Massachusetts20,095+2.1%
13Michigan19,768+0.6%
14Colorado19,472+1.6%
15Georgia19,413+3.1%
16Minnesota16,859+0.5%
17Maryland14,280+0.6%
18Wisconsin13,915-0.3%
19Oregon13,771+1.4%
20Indiana13,685+0.3%
21Missouri13,575+0.3%
22Arizona13,089+2.9%
23Utah10,719+5.5%
24Tennessee10,563+2.4%
25South Carolina10,411+1.8%
26Iowa8,746-0.6%
27Oklahoma8,321+0.4%
28Louisiana8,016-1.5%
29Idaho8,011+6.7%
30Connecticut7,930+0.9%
31Alabama7,792+1.5%
32Kentucky7,4740%
33Kansas7,060-0.9%
34Nebraska6,512-0.2%
35Montana5,703+0.8%
36Arkansas5,541+0.3%
37Maine5,252+1.2%
38Nevada5,232+1.7%
39New Hampshire4,383+3.3%
40New Mexico4,352-0.2%
41Mississippi3,865-0.6%
42South Dakota3,369-0.2%
43Rhode Island3,318+1.7%
44West Virginia3,0290%
45North Dakota2,950-2%
46Hawaii2,888-0.1%
47Wyoming2,715-0.3%
48Vermont2,672-1.4%
49Alaska2,527+2.5%
50Delaware2,333+2.1%
51District of Columbia480+2.6%

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/2019/. 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. (2021). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: construction, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2019/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau, 22 Apr. 2021, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2019/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: construction, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2019/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2021) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2019/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2021},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2019/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2019. 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/2019/. 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, 2019
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/04/22
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2019/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2019.
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/2019/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: construction?

California, with 79,551 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: construction?

District of Columbia, with 480 in 2019.

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