Construction employment grew in 34 states and the District of Columbia between September 2025 and September 2026, but the month-to-month picture is cooling. Only 25 states added construction jobs from August to September, according to the Associated General Contractors of America’s state employment table, built from Bureau of Labor Statistics data and released Oct. 20.
Fourteen states lost construction jobs over the year and two were flat. Over the month, 21 states lost jobs and four didn’t move.
Where state construction employment grew fastest
Louisiana is the outlier. It went from 135,400 construction jobs to 154,200, a gain of 18,800, or 13.9%. No other state came within 5 percentage points of that rate. Wyoming was second at 8.4% on a much smaller base, followed by Nebraska at 7.6% and Illinois at 6%.
By raw numbers, North Carolina added 15,900 jobs, Ohio 15,100, Texas 15,000 and Illinois 14,300. Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin each added roughly 7,800 to 8,700. That’s a Midwest-heavy list, and it lines up with where data center, battery and manufacturing work has been concentrated.
Texas deserves a second look. It added 15,000 jobs, but that’s only 1.7% growth on a base of more than 920,000, ranking 27th by percentage. The country’s largest construction workforce is growing slower than most states.
Construction job losses in Georgia, California and Virginia
Georgia lost the most, down 4,900 jobs, or 2.1%. California shed 4,800, Virginia 3,200, New Jersey 3,100 and Michigan 3,000. By percentage, Alaska fell hardest at 5.3%, then West Virginia at 4%.
Virginia stands out on that list. Northern Virginia is still the world’s biggest data center market, yet the state’s construction headcount is down 1.4% for the year. Some of that work may be drawing crews from out of state, which the payroll numbers wouldn’t capture as Virginia jobs.
Monthly construction jobs data shows slowing momentum
The September monthly moves were small and mixed. Oregon led with 2,000 jobs, Colorado added 1,900 and Washington 1,500. Wisconsin dropped 3,300 in one month, Ohio 3,100 and Texas 2,400. Wisconsin and Ohio are both up more than 5% for the year, so those drops could be big projects winding down or ordinary noise in a survey that BLS revises.
One caveat on the table: BLS only publishes combined construction, mining and logging figures for Delaware, D.C. and Hawaii, so those three aren’t pure construction counts.
The labor shortage hasn’t gone anywhere. 62.6% of ENR’s Top 600 specialty contractors say they’re short on craft workers. What this table adds is geography: the hiring is piling into Louisiana and the industrial Midwest, while Georgia and California are giving ground. Contractors bidding work in the growth states should price labor like the competition for it will get tighter, because it will.