Statistics that matter

The big picture: Construction builds the economy—and the workforce behind it

• Construction adds roughly $1.2 trillion to U.S. GDP each year, about 5% of the nation’s total economic output[1][2].
• The sector generates around $3 trillion in annual revenue and directly employs about 7.3 million workers, making it one of the largest job-creating industries in the U.S.[2][3]
• When you count related jobs in development, design, equipment, and services, construction supports over 11 million jobs across the country[4].

Those dollars translate into homes, schools, roads, water systems, parks, and landscapes—the infrastructure behind everyday life.

How big is immigrant labor in construction?

• Immigrant workers make up about 1 in 4 of all U.S. construction workers, and nearly 1 in 3 construction tradespeople[5][6].
• In major construction-heavy states, shares are even higher:
  • California: 41% of construction workers are foreign-born[7][5].

  • Texas: 40% of construction workers are foreign-born[7][5].

  • New Jersey, Florida, New York: roughly 35–38% of construction workers are foreign-born[7][5].
• In several large metros, immigrant workers make up more than half of the construction workforce:

  • Miami: about 2 of every 3 construction workers are foreign-born[7].

  • Los Angeles: about 54% of construction workers are foreign-born[7].
  • Washington, D.C.: about 52% of construction workers are foreign-born[7].

Many of the most iconic structures in U.S. history were built largely by immigrant hands. The transcontinental railroad was laid by Chinese and Irish laborers; the Brooklyn Bridge was built by an Irish-majority workforce; and cities like New York and Chicago grew up on the backs of immigrant-dominated crews. Immigrant labor has been part of the blueprint for America for over a century[8][9][10][11].

Key trades where immigrant labor is most concentrated

Some of the most critical, on-the-ground roles are heavily immigrant-dominated[12][13]:

• Plasterers and drywall installers:over 59% of workers in this trade are foreign-born[12].
• Roofers: more than 43% of workers are foreign-born[12].
• Painters: more than 40% of painters are foreign-born[12].
• Construction laborers and carpenters:

  • More than 1 in 3 laborers are foreign-born.

  • About 28% of carpenters are foreign-born[12]

These are the crews framing homes, trimming walls, installing roofing, and pouring concrete—the roles homeowners and contractors feel most directly when they’re missing.

Trend: The workforce is aging and thinning

• The average age of a U.S. construction worker is about 42, one year older than the average worker across the rest of the economy[14][15].
• Fewer high-schoolers and young adults are entering the trades, and workforce participation overall has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, leaving roughly 1.7 million fewer workers available nationally[16][14].

There are more than 1 million construction laborers in the U.S., making them the largest single occupation group in the construction sector[17][3].

The coming shortage: Why it matters for projects

• Analysts estimate that the U.S. will need about 650,000–725,000 construction and extraction workers each year through the mid-2030s just to replace workers who retire or leave the field[16].
• That’s more than 2 million new hires needed over just 2024–2026 to keep up with expected turnover[16].
• Projections show that millions of skilled-trades positions overall could remain unfilled by 2030 if recruitment and workforce-stability policies don’t change[16][18].

Construction activity is responsible for over 7% of U.S. GDP when residential construction is counted broadly, showing how tightly neighborhoods, schools, and commercial spaces are tied to the health of the industry[4].

What’s at stake: Delays, dollars, and design

• Labor shortages are already cited as the leading cause of project delays in construction, affecting everything from single-family homes to public-infrastructure work[19][20].
• When crews are thin or missing, projects face:
  • 
Schedule slippage of months on routine housing tracts and public-works projects.

  • Cost increases from 10% to 20% or more where emergency labor and overtime kick in[20][18].
• For homeowners and communities, that means:
  • 
Homes delayed or priced out of reach.

  • Parks, streetscapes, and green infrastructure delayed or built with less-experienced crews.

  • Public-works projects deferred, stretching maintenance backlogs on roads, water, and stormwater systems[20][6][21].