66 Must-Know Construction Statistics

Construction continues to prove it’s one of the most profitable industries in the world, with the United States construction market being one of the largest. This industry, like most, is heavily influenced by the social and economic climate and was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Skilled workforce shortages and supply chain issues causing material shortages caused this industry to take a hit, but we are starting to see significant growth as we come out of the 2020 recession.

There is sustainable growth throughout many sectors of construction, especially in the private development of single-family homes and home improvement projects. The rapid expansion of metropolitan cities is increasing the demand for commercial construction projects. The workplace is changing as well, with an increase in minority and female representation. New technologies like drone mapping and building information modeling (BIM) software are some of the emerging construction trends that offer increased job site safety and new efficient solutions.

This doesn’t mean that the industry is without its challenges. There is still an ongoing labor shortage for skilled workers and plenty of uncertainty around raw material trade and various tariffs. However, new technology and innovative ideas such as modular prefabricated construction offer bright hope for the future and many firms are adding staff every year. Despite a few areas of unease with the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues, construction firms are eager to meet the challenges of 2022 and succeed.

We’ve compiled 66 construction statistics that illustrate the state of the construction industry and give you a picture of the direction it is heading in. Jump to our infographic to see the most compelling stats that you need to know.

Construction Industry Facts and Figures

1. Construction spending in the United States topped $1.59 trillion in 2021. [Statista]
2. With increasing interest rates and rising inflation, a reduced global growth of 3.6% is expected in 2022 and 2023. [Turner & Townsend]
3. At $1.25 trillion dollars, 78% of construction spending occurred in the private sector in 2021. [Statista]
4. Total U.S. engineering and construction spending saw an 8% increase in 2021. [FMI]
5. Single-family residential construction is estimated at $380 billion, up 22% from 2020. [FMI]
6. Multi-family residential construction rose by 18% last year, with $111 billion in estimated value. [FMI]
7. Commercial construction was $92 billion in 2021, up 6% from the previous year. [FMI]
8. Home improvement spending increased by 19% in 2021. [FMI]
9. Examining the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, 60% of contractors say the shortage in building materials and products is the top consequence, and 52% claim the increase in workforce shortage is another major consequence. [USCC]
10. Construction for the manufacturing sector increased by 7% in 2021. [FMI]
11. Office construction saw a 4% decrease with the rise in unemployment and fully remote positions. [FMI]
12. Conservation and development construction is valued at $8 billion dollars. [FMI]
13. Construction related to sewage and waste disposal grew by 7% in 2021. [FMI]
14. Transportation construction decreased by 4% in 2021 due to travel limitations caused by the pandemic. [FMI]
15. Annual steel demand for construction in Asia and Oceania is almost 1.3 billion metric tons. [Statista]

Workers and Compensation

16. 11.3 million people worked in the construction industry in 2021. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
17. 57% of construction firms reported having a staff of fewer than 200 individuals. [JBK]
18. Construction managers were paid an average of $98,500 a year in 2021. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
19. The average hourly wage of all construction employees was $32.87 in 2021. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
20. The median weekly earnings for a full-time, non-union worker was $922 in 2021. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
21. The median earnings for a full-time union worker was $1,344 per week in 2021. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
22. 11,271 people were employed in the construction workforce in 2021. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
23. The approximate dollar value of construction work done in the U.S. in August 2022 is estimated to be $1.8 billion dollars. [CENSUS]
24. Total aggregate revenue of the top 400 construction companies in the U.S. reached $414.88 billion in 2020. [ENR]
25. 95% of U.S. general contractors reported they are experiencing at least one product shortage. [USCC]
26. 62% of contractors struggle with finding skilled workers to hire. [USCC]
27. 66% of contractors expect pandemic-related delays on projects. [USCC]

Ethnicity, Gender and Demographics

28. 32.6% of the construction industry workforce identify as Latino or Hispanic. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
29. 54.6% of the industry is made up of people between the ages of 42 and 61. [JBK]
30. 11% of the total construction workforce is female. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
31. 30.2% of the construction industry hold an Executive title with 7.3% filling the role of CFO in 2021. [JBK]
32. Women made up 11% of the construction workforce in 2021. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Construction Location

33. The top performing regions with projected growth in 2021-2022 are New England (7.5%), South Atlantic (7.0%), Mountain (6.8%), and East North Central (6.8%) states. [FMI]
34. 20% of U.S. construction occurs in New York, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Washington. [FMI]
35. 50% of all construction in the U.S. is expected to occur in just 20 cities over the next 5 years. [FMI]
36. Costing $444/sq ft., San Francisco is the most expensive city to build in the world in 2022. [The Real Deal]
37. The top 5 states renting equipment are California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and New York. [BigRentz]

Construction Safety Statistics

38. Across the world, 2.3 million people die due to work-related accidents or diseases every year. [ILO]
39. The “Fatal Four” hazards — electrocution, falls, being crushed, and being struck by an object — cause about 58.6% of job fatalities in construction. [OSHA]
40. Falls account for 33.5% of all construction deaths. [OSHA]
41. 1,034 workplace fatalities took place in the U.S. in 2020. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
42. An estimated 651,279 deaths per year are reported globally from diseases related to hazardous materials in construction. [ILO]

New Technologies

43. 53.7% of construction companies in 2021 report they have a process for testing and implementing new technologies. [JBK]
44. 56% of companies do not have a dedicated R&D budget in 2021. [JBK]
45. 37% of construction companies are experimenting with drones on the jobsite in 2021. [JBK]
46. 90.9% of construction workers use a smartphone and 82.8% use a laptop on a daily basis for work purposes. [JBK]
47. 12.4% reported using smartwatches for work. [JBK]
48. 62.4% of companies use mobile devices for daily reporting in the field. [JBK]
49. 28.8% of construction firms have a BIM department that uses Building Information Modeling (BIM) software. [JBK]
50. 35% of construction companies outsource any BIM related work.[JBK]
51. Only 3% of construction companies are not using dedicated construction software. [JBK]

Emerging Trends and Challenges

52. 45% of contractors turn down projects because of skilled labor shortages. [USCC]
53. 97% of contractors experience a moderate to high impact on their business from material cost fluctuations. [USCC]
54. 19% report impacts from roofing materials costs. [USCC]
55. 31% report impacts from the increasing lumber and wood costs. [USCC]
56. 43% report impacts from the fluctuating costs of steel. [USCC]
57. 35% of contractors in 2021 expect revenues to increase in the next year, with 34% of those contractors expecting an increase of 3%. [USCC]
58. 70% of contractors claim BIM is not yet standardized across the industry. [NBS]
59. 90% of all global infrastructure projects are either over-budget or delayed. [The Economist]
60. The average backlog of projects for general contractors decreased from 9.4 months in 2021 Q3 to 8.4 months in 2021 Q4. [USCC]
61. Apple is the most used mobile operating system, with 78.6% of companies using it. [JBK]
62. 54.4% of construction companies use the Bluebeam (Revu) mobile app for plan management. [JBK]

Construction Rentals

63. 63. U.S. construction equipment rental sales are expected to reach $52.7 billion by 2022. [Statista]
    64. Construction equipment is rented for an average of 6 days. [BigRentz]
    65. 15% of rented equipment is for individual construction projects. [BigRentz]
    66. Equipment rental accounts for over 47% of industry revenue. [IBIS World]