Source: NAHB —
According to the latest 2019 ACS, over 11 million people, including self-employed workers, worked in construction in 2019. NAHB Economics estimates that out of this total, 4.4 million people worked in residential construction, accounting for 2.8% of the US employed civilian labor force. Home building in Florida, Vermont and multiple states in the Mountain Division stand out for generating a significantly higher share of jobs. NAHB’s analysis also identifies congressional districts where home building accounts for particularly high employment levels and share of local jobs. In 2020, despite the widespread curtailment of economic activity due to Covid-19, home building created additional jobs as the rest of the economy struggled.
Not surprisingly, the most populous state—California—also has the most residential construction workers. Close to 640,000 California residents worked in home building in 2019, accounting for over 3.3% of the state employed labor force.
;
