68 Must-Know Construction Statistics (2023)

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.

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, too, 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.

We’ve compiled 68 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.

Workers and Compensation

1. There are 336,000 job openings in the United States construction industry as of May 2023. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
2. Nearly 11.8 million people worked in the construction industry in 2022. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
3. 57% of construction firms reported having a staff of fewer than 200 individuals in 2021. [JBK]
4. Construction managers were paid an average of $110,160 a year in 2022. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
5. The average hourly wage of all construction employees was $36.31 as of June 2023. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
6. The median weekly earnings for a full-time, nonunion worker was $976 in 2022. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
7. The median earnings for a full-time union member was $1,319 per week in 2022. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
8. The approximate dollar value of construction work done in the U.S. in May 2023 is estimated to be $1.9 billion. [CENSUS]
9. The total aggregate revenue of the top 400 construction companies in the U.S. reached $414.88 billion in 2020. [ENR]
10. 95% of U.S. general contractors reported they experienced at least one product shortage in 2021. [USCC]
11. 62% of contractors reported they struggled with finding skilled workers to hire in 2021. [USCC]
12. 66% of contractors reported they expected pandemic-related delays on projects in 2021. [USCC]

Ethnicity, Gender and Demographics

13. 34.2% of the construction industry workforce identify as Latino or Hispanic. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
14. 54.6% of the industry is made up of people between the ages of 42 and 61. [JBK]
15. 30.2% of the construction industry hold an Executive title, with 7.3% filling the role of CFO in 2021. [JBK]
16. Women make up 11% of the construction workforce in 2023. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Construction Industry Facts and Figures

17. Construction spending in the United States topped $1.79 trillion in 2022. [Statista]
18. With increasing interest rates and rising inflation, a reduced global growth of 3.6% is expected in 2022 and 2023. [Turner & Townsend]
19. At $1.43 trillion dollars, over 79% of construction spending occurred in the private sector in 2022. [Statista]
20. Total U.S. engineering and construction spending saw an 11% increase in 2022. [FMI]
21. Total U.S. engineering and construction spending is expected to see a 3% increase in 2023. [FMI]
22. Single-family residential construction is estimated at $372 billion, a 16% decrease from 2022. [FMI]
23. Multifamily residential construction rose by 12% last year, currently estimated at $127 billion as of July 2023. [FMI]
24. Commercial construction spending is at $128 billion as of July 2023, up 11% from the previous year. [FMI]
25. Home improvement spending increased by 1% in 2023. [FMI]
26. 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]
27. Construction for the manufacturing sector increased by 36% in 2023. [FMI]
28. Office construction saw an 8% increase over the last year due to the need for Class A office space in major markets. [FMI]
29. Conservation and development construction is valued at $11 billion. [FMI]
30. Construction related to sewage and waste disposal grew by 7% in 2023. [FMI]
31. Transportation construction increased by 9% in 2023 as governments increased their budgets and spending on transportation projects. [FMI]
32. Annual steel demand for construction in Asia and Oceania is almost 1.3 billion metric tons. [Statista]

Construction Location

33. The top performing regions with projected growth in 2021-2022 were 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.  Restoring the U.S. Gulf Coast to protect cities from storms is a large factor in the 21% increase in conservation and development spending. [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. In 2021, the United States construction industry had the highest number of fatal work-related accidents resulting in 1,015 deaths. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
39. The private construction industry accounted for over 20% of fatal workplace-related accidents in 2020. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
40. The construction industry saw a total of 165,300 nonfatal workplace injuries in 2020. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
41. The most frequently cited OSHA violations in the construction industry include fall protection, hazard communication, ladders, respiratory protection and scaffolding. [OSHA]
42. The “Fatal Four” hazards — electrocution, falls, being crushed, and being struck by an object — cause over 60% of job fatalities in construction. [OSHA]
43. Falls accounted for 378 of the 986 construction fatalities recorded in 2021 [OSHA]
44. The construction industry accounted for just over 46% of all fatal falls, slips and trips in 2021. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
45. An estimated 651,279 deaths per year are reported globally from diseases related to hazardous materials in construction. [ILO]

New Technologies

46. 53.7% of construction companies in 2021 report they have a process for testing and implementing new technologies. [JBK]
47. 56% of companies did not have a dedicated R&D budget in 2021. [JBK]
48. 37% of construction companies were experimenting with drones on the job site in 2021. [JBK]
49. 90.9% of construction workers use a smartphone and 82.8% use a laptop on a daily basis for work purposes. [JBK]
50. 12.4% of survey respondents reported using smartwatches for work. [JBK]
51. 62.4% of companies use mobile devices for daily reporting in the field. [JBK]
52. 28.8% of construction firms have a BIM department that uses Building Information Modeling (BIM) software. [JBK]
53. 35% of construction companies outsource any BIM-related work.[JBK]
54. Only 3% of construction companies are not using dedicated construction software. [JBK]

Emerging Trends and Challenges

55. In 2021, 45% of contractors turned down projects because of skilled labor shortages. [USCC]
56. 97% of contractors experienced a moderate to high impact on their business from material cost fluctuations. [USCC]
57. 19% of businesses reported impacts from roofing materials costs. [USCC]
58. 31% of businesses reported impacts from the increasing lumber and wood costs. [USCC]
59. 43% of survey respondents reported impacts from the fluctuating costs of steel. [USCC]
60. BIM is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, with over 98% of large architecture firms using it. [Agacad]
61. The vast majority of infrastructure projects are either over-budget or delayed with only 8.5% of projects finished on time and on budget. [Washington Post]
62. The average backlog of projects for general contractors decreased from 9.4 months in 2021 Q3 to 8.4 months in 2021 Q4. [USCC]
63. Apple is the most used mobile operating system, with 78.6% of companies using it. [JBK]
64. 54.4% of construction companies use the Bluebeam (Revu) mobile app for plan management. [JBK]

Construction Rentals

65. U.S. construction equipment rental sales reached $47.8 billion in 2021. [Statista]
66. Construction equipment is rented for an average of 6 days. [BigRentz]
67. 15% of rented equipment is for individual construction projects. [BigRentz]
68. Tool and equipment rentals are a $5 billion industry in the United States [IBIS]

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Construction Statistics Infographic