Mountain West Regions Top Lists for Residential Construction Employment

Construction industry employment reached a record high in 2023 at 11.4 million people, and an estimated 4.7 million of those workers were in residential construction.

The rise in employment was a reflection of housing production, as the number of housing units under construction also peaked that year. Demand for housing and construction workers was strongest in the fast-growing states with a high prevalence of seasonal vacation homes.

Three states in the Mountain Division — Idaho, Montana and Utah — were at the top of the list with 5.5%, 5.1% and 4.9%, respectively, of the employed labor force working in home building. Vermont was next on the list with a share of 4.6%, followed by Florida with 4.4%.

Further analysis by NAHB examined residential construction employment by congressional district. Idaho’s 1st Congressional District topped the list with the highest share (6.4%) of residential construction workers in the employed labor force. Florida’s 17th district was a close second with 6.3% of the labor force employed in home building.

Next on the list were Montana’s 1st and Utah’s 2nd districts, each with shares of 5.8%, followed by Florida’s 19th (5.7%) and 26th (5.6%) districts. California’s 29th (5.4%) and 39th (5.3%) districts also registered shares far exceeding the national average of 2.9%.

View more employment details for all states and congressional districts in this Eye On Housing article.