Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: construction / US states

US states by employer establishments: construction

California had the highest employer establishments: construction of 51 states in 2020, at 80,657. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 496. The median was 8,712 and the figure for the United States was 753,341. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest80,657California
Lowest496District of Columbia
Median8,71251 states
United States753,341History

Map of states, 2020

Alabama: 7,964 countAlaska: 2,516 countArizona: 13,487 countArkansas: 5,675 countCalifornia: 80,657 countColorado: 19,672 countConnecticut: 7,882 countDelaware: 2,387 countDistrict of Columbia: 496 countFlorida: 60,046 countGeorgia: 20,096 countHawaii: 2,892 countIdaho: 8,450 countIllinois: 29,145 countIndiana: 13,881 countIowa: 8,712 countKansas: 7,089 countKentucky: 7,541 countLouisiana: 8,170 countMaine: 5,293 countMaryland: 14,251 countMassachusetts: 20,080 countMichigan: 19,831 countMinnesota: 16,938 countMississippi: 3,879 countMissouri: 13,640 countMontana: 5,909 countNebraska: 6,531 countNevada: 5,379 countNew Hampshire: 4,455 countNew Jersey: 21,656 countNew Mexico: 4,389 countNew York: 49,602 countNorth Carolina: 25,421 countNorth Dakota: 2,881 countOhio: 20,299 countOklahoma: 8,379 countOregon: 13,885 countPennsylvania: 27,450 countRhode Island: 3,265 countSouth Carolina: 10,676 countSouth Dakota: 3,436 countTennessee: 10,831 countTexas: 49,326 countUtah: 11,136 countVermont: 2,642 countVirginia: 20,200 countWashington: 25,100 countWest Virginia: 2,996 countWisconsin: 14,053 countWyoming: 2,774 count
  • Under 3,300
  • 3,300 to 6,300
  • 6,300 to 8,700
  • 8,700 to 14K
  • 14K to 21K
  • 21K and over
count, 2020. 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, 2020

California: 80,657 countCalifornia80,657Florida: 60,046 countFlorida60,046New York: 49,602 countNew York49,602Texas: 49,326 countTexas49,326Illinois: 29,145 countIllinois29,145Pennsylvania: 27,450 countPennsylvania27,450North Carolina: 25,421 countNorth Carolina25,421Washington: 25,100 countWashington25,100New Jersey: 21,656 countNew Jersey21,656Ohio: 20,299 countOhio20,299Virginia: 20,200 countVirginia20,200Georgia: 20,096 countGeorgia20,096Massachusetts: 20,080 countMassachusetts20,080Michigan: 19,831 countMichigan19,831Colorado: 19,672 countColorado19,672Minnesota: 16,938 countMinnesota16,938Maryland: 14,251 countMaryland14,251Wisconsin: 14,053 countWisconsin14,053Oregon: 13,885 countOregon13,885Indiana: 13,881 countIndiana13,881Missouri: 13,640 countMissouri13,640Arizona: 13,487 countArizona13,487Utah: 11,136 countUtah11,136Tennessee: 10,831 countTennessee10,831South Carolina: 10,676 countSouth Carolina10,676Iowa: 8,712 countIowa8,712Idaho: 8,450 countIdaho8,450Oklahoma: 8,379 countOklahoma8,379Louisiana: 8,170 countLouisiana8,170Alabama: 7,964 countAlabama7,964Connecticut: 7,882 countConnecticut7,882Kentucky: 7,541 countKentucky7,541Kansas: 7,089 countKansas7,089Nebraska: 6,531 countNebraska6,531Montana: 5,909 countMontana5,909Arkansas: 5,675 countArkansas5,675Nevada: 5,379 countNevada5,379Maine: 5,293 countMaine5,293New Hampshire: 4,455 countNew Hampshire4,455New Mexico: 4,389 countNew Mexico4,389Mississippi: 3,879 countMississippi3,879South Dakota: 3,436 countSouth Dakota3,436Rhode Island: 3,265 countRhode Island3,265West Virginia: 2,996 countWest Virginia2,996Hawaii: 2,892 countHawaii2,892North Dakota: 2,881 countNorth Dakota2,881Wyoming: 2,774 countWyoming2,774Vermont: 2,642 countVermont2,642Alaska: 2,516 countAlaska2,516Delaware: 2,387 countDelaware2,387District of Columbia: 496 countDistrict of Columbia496California: 80,657 countCalifornia80,657Florida: 60,046 countFlorida60,046New York: 49,602 countNew York49,602Texas: 49,326 countTexas49,326Illinois: 29,145 countIllinois29,145Pennsylvania: 27,450 countPennsylvania27,450North Carolina: 25,421 countNorth Carolina25,421Washington: 25,100 countWashington25,100New Jersey: 21,656 countNew Jersey21,656Ohio: 20,299 countOhio20,299Virginia: 20,200 countVirginia20,200Georgia: 20,096 countGeorgia20,096Massachusetts: 20,080 countMassachusetts20,080Michigan: 19,831 countMichigan19,831Colorado: 19,672 countColorado19,672Minnesota: 16,938 countMinnesota16,938Maryland: 14,251 countMaryland14,251Wisconsin: 14,053 countWisconsin14,053Oregon: 13,885 countOregon13,885Indiana: 13,881 countIndiana13,881Missouri: 13,640 countMissouri13,640Arizona: 13,487 countArizona13,487Utah: 11,136 countUtah11,136Tennessee: 10,831 countTennessee10,831South Carolina: 10,676 countSouth Carolina10,676Iowa: 8,712 countIowa8,712Idaho: 8,450 countIdaho8,450Oklahoma: 8,379 countOklahoma8,379Louisiana: 8,170 countLouisiana8,170Alabama: 7,964 countAlabama7,964Connecticut: 7,882 countConnecticut7,882Kentucky: 7,541 countKentucky7,541Kansas: 7,089 countKansas7,089Nebraska: 6,531 countNebraska6,531Montana: 5,909 countMontana5,909Arkansas: 5,675 countArkansas5,675Nevada: 5,379 countNevada5,379Maine: 5,293 countMaine5,293New Hampshire: 4,455 countNew Hampshire4,455New Mexico: 4,389 countNew Mexico4,389Mississippi: 3,879 countMississippi3,879South Dakota: 3,436 countSouth Dakota3,436Rhode Island: 3,265 countRhode Island3,265West Virginia: 2,996 countWest Virginia2,996Hawaii: 2,892 countHawaii2,892North Dakota: 2,881 countNorth Dakota2,881Wyoming: 2,774 countWyoming2,774Vermont: 2,642 countVermont2,642Alaska: 2,516 countAlaska2,516Delaware: 2,387 countDelaware2,387District of Columbia: 496 countDistrict of Columbia496
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

RankStates2020
count		Change on 2019
1California80,657+1.4%
2Florida60,046+2.5%
3New York49,602-1.8%
4Texas49,326+2.8%
5Illinois29,145-0.2%
6Pennsylvania27,450+0.4%
7North Carolina25,421+2.8%
8Washington25,100-0.1%
9New Jersey21,656-1%
10Ohio20,299+1%
11Virginia20,200+0.4%
12Georgia20,096+3.5%
13Massachusetts20,080-0.1%
14Michigan19,831+0.3%
15Colorado19,672+1%
16Minnesota16,938+0.5%
17Maryland14,251-0.2%
18Wisconsin14,053+1%
19Oregon13,885+0.8%
20Indiana13,881+1.4%
21Missouri13,640+0.5%
22Arizona13,487+3%
23Utah11,136+3.9%
24Tennessee10,831+2.5%
25South Carolina10,676+2.5%
26Iowa8,712-0.4%
27Idaho8,450+5.5%
28Oklahoma8,379+0.7%
29Louisiana8,170+1.9%
30Alabama7,964+2.2%
31Connecticut7,882-0.6%
32Kentucky7,541+0.9%
33Kansas7,089+0.4%
34Nebraska6,531+0.3%
35Montana5,909+3.6%
36Arkansas5,675+2.4%
37Nevada5,379+2.8%
38Maine5,293+0.8%
39New Hampshire4,455+1.6%
40New Mexico4,389+0.9%
41Mississippi3,879+0.4%
42South Dakota3,436+2%
43Rhode Island3,265-1.6%
44West Virginia2,996-1.1%
45Hawaii2,892+0.1%
46North Dakota2,881-2.3%
47Wyoming2,774+2.2%
48Vermont2,642-1.1%
49Alaska2,516-0.4%
50Delaware2,387+2.3%
51District of Columbia496+3.3%

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/2020/. 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. (2022). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: construction, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2020/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 28 Apr. 2022, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2020/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2022. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: construction, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2020/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2022) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2020/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2022},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2020/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2020. 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/2020/. 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, 2020
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/28
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2020/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2020.
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/2020/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: construction?

California, with 80,657 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: construction?

District of Columbia, with 496 in 2020.

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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