Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: construction / US states

US states by employer establishments: construction

California had the highest employer establishments: construction of 51 states in 2021, at 82,744. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 530. The median was 9,311 and the figure for the United States was 780,257. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest82,744California
Lowest530District of Columbia
Median9,31151 states
United States780,257History

Map of states, 2021

Alabama: 8,434 countAlaska: 2,580 countArizona: 14,289 countArkansas: 5,939 countCalifornia: 82,744 countColorado: 20,299 countConnecticut: 7,990 countDelaware: 2,449 countDistrict of Columbia: 530 countFlorida: 63,119 countGeorgia: 21,028 countHawaii: 2,944 countIdaho: 9,311 countIllinois: 29,474 countIndiana: 14,358 countIowa: 8,946 countKansas: 7,281 countKentucky: 7,759 countLouisiana: 8,596 countMaine: 5,551 countMaryland: 14,439 countMassachusetts: 20,700 countMichigan: 20,494 countMinnesota: 17,346 countMississippi: 4,010 countMissouri: 14,134 countMontana: 6,314 countNebraska: 6,698 countNevada: 5,651 countNew Hampshire: 4,735 countNew Jersey: 22,009 countNew Mexico: 4,440 countNew York: 50,471 countNorth Carolina: 26,522 countNorth Dakota: 2,925 countOhio: 20,891 countOklahoma: 8,614 countOregon: 14,529 countPennsylvania: 28,244 countRhode Island: 3,377 countSouth Carolina: 11,132 countSouth Dakota: 3,567 countTennessee: 11,447 countTexas: 51,920 countUtah: 12,042 countVermont: 2,741 countVirginia: 20,677 countWashington: 26,396 countWest Virginia: 3,052 countWisconsin: 14,294 countWyoming: 2,825 count
  • Under 3,400
  • 3,400 to 6,600
  • 6,600 to 9,300
  • 9,300 to 14K
  • 14K to 22K
  • 22K and over
count, 2021. 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, 2021

California: 82,744 countCalifornia82,744Florida: 63,119 countFlorida63,119Texas: 51,920 countTexas51,920New York: 50,471 countNew York50,471Illinois: 29,474 countIllinois29,474Pennsylvania: 28,244 countPennsylvania28,244North Carolina: 26,522 countNorth Carolina26,522Washington: 26,396 countWashington26,396New Jersey: 22,009 countNew Jersey22,009Georgia: 21,028 countGeorgia21,028Ohio: 20,891 countOhio20,891Massachusetts: 20,700 countMassachusetts20,700Virginia: 20,677 countVirginia20,677Michigan: 20,494 countMichigan20,494Colorado: 20,299 countColorado20,299Minnesota: 17,346 countMinnesota17,346Oregon: 14,529 countOregon14,529Maryland: 14,439 countMaryland14,439Indiana: 14,358 countIndiana14,358Wisconsin: 14,294 countWisconsin14,294Arizona: 14,289 countArizona14,289Missouri: 14,134 countMissouri14,134Utah: 12,042 countUtah12,042Tennessee: 11,447 countTennessee11,447South Carolina: 11,132 countSouth Carolina11,132Idaho: 9,311 countIdaho9,311Iowa: 8,946 countIowa8,946Oklahoma: 8,614 countOklahoma8,614Louisiana: 8,596 countLouisiana8,596Alabama: 8,434 countAlabama8,434Connecticut: 7,990 countConnecticut7,990Kentucky: 7,759 countKentucky7,759Kansas: 7,281 countKansas7,281Nebraska: 6,698 countNebraska6,698Montana: 6,314 countMontana6,314Arkansas: 5,939 countArkansas5,939Nevada: 5,651 countNevada5,651Maine: 5,551 countMaine5,551New Hampshire: 4,735 countNew Hampshire4,735New Mexico: 4,440 countNew Mexico4,440Mississippi: 4,010 countMississippi4,010South Dakota: 3,567 countSouth Dakota3,567Rhode Island: 3,377 countRhode Island3,377West Virginia: 3,052 countWest Virginia3,052Hawaii: 2,944 countHawaii2,944North Dakota: 2,925 countNorth Dakota2,925Wyoming: 2,825 countWyoming2,825Vermont: 2,741 countVermont2,741Alaska: 2,580 countAlaska2,580Delaware: 2,449 countDelaware2,449District of Columbia: 530 countDistrict of Columbia530California: 82,744 countCalifornia82,744Florida: 63,119 countFlorida63,119Texas: 51,920 countTexas51,920New York: 50,471 countNew York50,471Illinois: 29,474 countIllinois29,474Pennsylvania: 28,244 countPennsylvania28,244North Carolina: 26,522 countNorth Carolina26,522Washington: 26,396 countWashington26,396New Jersey: 22,009 countNew Jersey22,009Georgia: 21,028 countGeorgia21,028Ohio: 20,891 countOhio20,891Massachusetts: 20,700 countMassachusetts20,700Virginia: 20,677 countVirginia20,677Michigan: 20,494 countMichigan20,494Colorado: 20,299 countColorado20,299Minnesota: 17,346 countMinnesota17,346Oregon: 14,529 countOregon14,529Maryland: 14,439 countMaryland14,439Indiana: 14,358 countIndiana14,358Wisconsin: 14,294 countWisconsin14,294Arizona: 14,289 countArizona14,289Missouri: 14,134 countMissouri14,134Utah: 12,042 countUtah12,042Tennessee: 11,447 countTennessee11,447South Carolina: 11,132 countSouth Carolina11,132Idaho: 9,311 countIdaho9,311Iowa: 8,946 countIowa8,946Oklahoma: 8,614 countOklahoma8,614Louisiana: 8,596 countLouisiana8,596Alabama: 8,434 countAlabama8,434Connecticut: 7,990 countConnecticut7,990Kentucky: 7,759 countKentucky7,759Kansas: 7,281 countKansas7,281Nebraska: 6,698 countNebraska6,698Montana: 6,314 countMontana6,314Arkansas: 5,939 countArkansas5,939Nevada: 5,651 countNevada5,651Maine: 5,551 countMaine5,551New Hampshire: 4,735 countNew Hampshire4,735New Mexico: 4,440 countNew Mexico4,440Mississippi: 4,010 countMississippi4,010South Dakota: 3,567 countSouth Dakota3,567Rhode Island: 3,377 countRhode Island3,377West Virginia: 3,052 countWest Virginia3,052Hawaii: 2,944 countHawaii2,944North Dakota: 2,925 countNorth Dakota2,925Wyoming: 2,825 countWyoming2,825Vermont: 2,741 countVermont2,741Alaska: 2,580 countAlaska2,580Delaware: 2,449 countDelaware2,449District of Columbia: 530 countDistrict of Columbia530
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

RankStates2021
count		Change on 2020
1California82,744+2.6%
2Florida63,119+5.1%
3Texas51,920+5.3%
4New York50,471+1.8%
5Illinois29,474+1.1%
6Pennsylvania28,244+2.9%
7North Carolina26,522+4.3%
8Washington26,396+5.2%
9New Jersey22,009+1.6%
10Georgia21,028+4.6%
11Ohio20,891+2.9%
12Massachusetts20,700+3.1%
13Virginia20,677+2.4%
14Michigan20,494+3.3%
15Colorado20,299+3.2%
16Minnesota17,346+2.4%
17Oregon14,529+4.6%
18Maryland14,439+1.3%
19Indiana14,358+3.4%
20Wisconsin14,294+1.7%
21Arizona14,289+5.9%
22Missouri14,134+3.6%
23Utah12,042+8.1%
24Tennessee11,447+5.7%
25South Carolina11,132+4.3%
26Idaho9,311+10.2%
27Iowa8,946+2.7%
28Oklahoma8,614+2.8%
29Louisiana8,596+5.2%
30Alabama8,434+5.9%
31Connecticut7,990+1.4%
32Kentucky7,759+2.9%
33Kansas7,281+2.7%
34Nebraska6,698+2.6%
35Montana6,314+6.9%
36Arkansas5,939+4.7%
37Nevada5,651+5.1%
38Maine5,551+4.9%
39New Hampshire4,735+6.3%
40New Mexico4,440+1.2%
41Mississippi4,010+3.4%
42South Dakota3,567+3.8%
43Rhode Island3,377+3.4%
44West Virginia3,052+1.9%
45Hawaii2,944+1.8%
46North Dakota2,925+1.5%
47Wyoming2,825+1.8%
48Vermont2,741+3.7%
49Alaska2,580+2.5%
50Delaware2,449+2.6%
51District of Columbia530+6.9%

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/2021/. 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. (2023). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: construction, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2021/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 Apr. 2023, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2021/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2023. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: construction, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2021/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2023) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), construction (NAICS 23), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: construction, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2021/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2023},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2021/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2021. 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/2021/. 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, 2021
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/04/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2021/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-construction/us-states?period=2021.
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/2021/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: construction?

California, with 82,744 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: construction?

District of Columbia, with 530 in 2021.

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