Home Building Accounts for Nearly 3% of U.S. Labor Force

More than 11 million Americans worked in the construction industry in 2019 with 4.4 million of those in the residential sector, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Compared to the U.S. employed civilian labor force, residential construction workers accounted for 2.8% of overall labor force. Florida, Vermont, and multiple other states in the Mountain Division of the U.S. generate a significantly higher share of home building jobs, says NAHB. California, the country’s most populous state, also posts the largest share of residential construction workers at 3.3% of the state employed labor force.

Florida comes in second with over 430,000 residential construction workers. Florida has fewer residents than Texas but owing to its large vacation and seasonal housing stock, employs more residential construction workers. In Florida, residential construction workers account for a relatively high 4.3% of the employed labor. Even though this share is well above the national average (2.8%), it is drastically lower than in 2006 when Florida registered the highest share among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, 6.5%.

Similarly to Florida, other states with a high prevalence of seasonal, vacation homes top the list of states with the highest share of residential construction workers in 2019. Idaho with 5.2% of the employed labor force working in home building takes the top spot on the list. Utah and Florida follow with 4.4% and 4.3%, respectively. Vermont and Montana also register shares in excess of 4%. In addition, ten other states register shares of residential construction workers that exceed 3%: Maine (3.6%), Nevada (3.5%), Washington (3.5%), Colorado (3.5%), New Hampshire (3.4%), Arizona (3.4%), North Carolina (3.4%), California (3.3%), Oregon (3.1%) and Delaware (3.1%).

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