The construction sector has certainly had its share of pandemic-related struggles with indefinite site shutdowns, a scarce labor force and supply chain disruptions,  among an array of other setbacks. As the effects are still being felt, developers are facing new changes and government regulations in an industry that’s stubbornly trying to bounce back. However, with demand on the rise,  2022 is a good time to work in construction — especially if you’re in the right place.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports nearly 6 million construction and extraction professionals in the U.S., with an annual salary of around $56,000. And the future looks bright: by 2030, construction jobs are estimated to grow by 6%, which translates into about 360,000 new positions gained. But, not everywhere is the same.

Like real estate, working in construction is all about location, location, location, so where you activate can make a big difference. Latest developments within a job sector (like the most recent mean wage, the number of local jobs and that of approved projects underway) can provide a forecast of what working in that domain would look like over the next period. This outlook shows which metropolitan areas — defined by Point2 as dynamic metros — are faring the best when it comes to providing opportunities for construction workers.

So, to determine the most dynamic metro areas for construction-related occupations, Point2 analysts ranked U.S. metros based on eight factors that influence the industry and its job evolution: number of jobs, wage, building permit change, housing units, permits per housing units, construction establishments, location quotient and, last but not least, cost of living (see methodology for full details). As a reasonable benchmark for growing construction activity, this report considers metros with more than 1,000 permits issued between January and June 2022. The resulting 146 metropolitan areas paint a picture of the state of construction work across the United States.

Here are the main findings:

• Recent evolution of opportunity and demand makes Kennewick, WA,  and St. George, UT, the most thriving metros for construction jobs.
• Change in construction job outlook in smaller metros outpaces that of larger ones. Notably, no New York metros make the top 20.
• Greeley, CO, and St. George, UT, metros boast the largest shares of construction occupations out of 1,000: 90 and 95, respectively.
• San Jose ($80,400) and San Francisco ($78,600) metros have the highest annual pay for construction jobs, but also the highest cost of living.
• Hickory, NC and Worcester, MA metros witnessed a construction renaissance: over 1,000% more building permits for housing units were issued between January and June 2022 compared to last year’s first half, boosting their potential for construction job opportunities. 

 

Small & Mid-Sized Metros at the Helm of Construction Work

With the pandemic throwing a wrench into American building plans, things were looking bleak for construction professionals across the country. However, small- and mid-sized metros have become great options, given their recent evolution in job demand and opportunity for construction-related occupations, such as contractor, engineer, surveyor, architect, and many more.

Our analysis revealed that having a construction job in larger metros could actually prove to be more disadvantageous than working in smaller metro areas with room for development: 18 of the top 20 metros where construction jobs are flourishing have populations of less than 1 million, most of them in the state of Utah.

Granted, larger players like Houston, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas do offer options for workers. But juggernaut metros like Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago don’t even make the list due to factors such as a slowing number of building permits issued, decreasing construction job concentration, and high cost of living.

Conversely, Kennewick, WA, and its metropolitan area (Kennewick-Pasco-Richland) is buzzing with exciting construction projects underway. With a population of around 295,000, 83 in 1,000 jobs here are construction-related. The area also offers one of the highest salaries for industry professionals: $67,200.

Next up is St. George, UT, one of the smallest metros analyzed with a population of 172,100. The area scored high when it comes to construction jobs (90 jobs in 1,000 are in construction), growth in construction establishments (29% more in 2020 than in 2017), and growing housing unit construction, according to the latest five-year data (17%). In addition to St. George and SLC, two other Utah metros are among the 10 best areas for construction work: Ogden and Provo, both displaying some of the highest construction job concentrations on the list.

The third metro for construction workers to consider is Gulfport, MS — an inspiring example of a smaller area striving to develop. For years now, the area has been actively working to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Now, it claims a comfortable cost of living and a high concentration of jobs in construction (61 jobs in 1,000 are in construction).

 

Construction Demand & Opportunity Converge in Greeley, CO & St. George, UT, but California Metros Pay Better

Besides job outlook, opportunity and salary are core factors when choosing a career path — and not just in construction. To that end, it’s crucial to highlight the U.S. metros with the highest concentration of construction-related positions, as well as those with the highest wages in the field.

Once again, the top 10 metros with the largest shares of construction jobs are on the smaller side, with populations under 900k. Greeley, CO (95 in 1,000 jobs are in construction), and St. George, UT (90 in 1,000) rise to the top. They are followed by two Washington metros (Kennewick; Bremerton) and three Florida metros (Cape Coral; The Villages; Naples). Plus, as job concentration goes hand in hand with the location quotient (LQ), these areas also have the best LQs, a metric that indicates that the construction sector is best represented here because it makes up a larger share of employment than it does for the United States as a whole.

As far as annual wages go, larger metros prove why they remain attractive options for construction talent.

The 10 metros with the best salaries for construction occupations are economic and cultural hubs like New York (around $75,200 per year), Chicago ($74,550), and Seattle (also $74,550). And, it’s no surprise that sizeable metros are also the ones that do better when it comes to the actual numbers of construction employees, with Houston, Dallas, and Chicago each counting more than 120,000 construction workers, LA metro closing in on 200,000, and NY metro on almost 300,000.

California entries are scarce on the list of best metros for construction work overall — of the 12 metros included in the analysis, only Santa Rosa-Petaluma made the top 20. But one thing that the Golden State excels at is providing attractive wages for pros in the sector. Specifically, San Jose ($80,400) and San Francisco ($78,600) offer the highest annual pay, as well as the highest cost of living alongside Los Angeles and San Diego. On the opposite end of the spectrum are three Texas metros — Brownsville, McAllen, and El Paso — which drop the ball when it comes to construction wages: less than $38,500.

Another metric for gauging job opportunity involves analyzing how many construction establishments exist. That is to say the number of physical locations where construction-related business is conducted or construction services or industrial operations are performed.

In this respect, most recent data shows that the 10 metros with the highest increases in construction establishments all had over 25% more establishments in 2020 than they did in 2017. In particular,  Panama City, FL, sets itself apart with a 43% raise, followed by Chico, CA, with 39%. Although the New York metro only had a 6% increase, it counted more than 18,500 establishments in 2020 — significantly higher than Los Angeles (8,600) and Chicago (7,600).

 

50%+ More Building Permits Issued in 27 U.S. Metros; 2,300%+ in Hickory, NC Alone

While demand and wages remain the pillars, they’re not the only indicators of expanding job opportunities in an area. Residential construction is a staple of building development that requires skilled professionals. As such, analyzing what’s in the housing pipeline makes for another important metric in gauging job outlook.

For this reason, our analysis also considers the change in the number of building permits issued for new privately-owned housing units, which reflects how well the residential aspect of the industry is doing for the foreseeable future. While metros like Fayetteville, NC and Gainesville, FL have experienced the highest increases in housing units in the past years (36% and 22%, respectively), other metropolitan areas are hot on their heels as frontrunners when it comes to future and ongoing residential developments.

In the first half of 2022, 27 metros experienced an increase in building permits of more than 50% compared to same time last year. In particular,  Hickory, NC, and Worcester, MA metros go above and beyond with 2,309% and 1,428%, respectively, going from fewer than 100 in the first half of 2021 to more than 1,300 in these past six months.

So far this year, six other metros had more than 100% more permits issued compared to the first half of last year: Hilton Head Island, SC (194%), Chico, CA (135%), Wichita, KS (132%), Gainesville, GA (120%), Pittsburgh, PA (114%), and Salem, OR (104%). And, despite less-notable growth in terms of new permits authorized in the first half of 2022, the Dallas and Houston metros saw the highest number of permits issued: 42,130 and 40,890, respectively.

In other metros — particularly in larger ones — things are moving slower when it comes to authorizing residential development. So far this year, 39 metropolitan areas have issued fewer building permits than they did in January-June of 2021. These include Philadelphia (-45%), Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN (-29%), Nashville, TN (-27%), San Francisco (-25%), New Orleans (-24%), and Miami (-6%)

With construction job openings jumping to record highs in the United States, one thing is certain: qualified workers are welcome — regardless of the metro area. As early retirements pepper the post-pandemic period and professionals increasingly switch to remote work, we’ll have to wait and see how the construction sector continues to navigate the labor crisis.

Below, check out the full ranking of all 146 metros included in the analysis, along with their scores for the eight factors considered. Click on each factor in the table to rank the metros according to it.

 

Rank	Metro	State	Population 2020	Construction Jobs in 1,000 Rank	Location Quotient Rank	Annual Wage Rank	Cost of Living Rank	Housing Units Change Rank	Building Permits Change Rank	Permits Per Housing Unit Rank	Construction Establishments Change Rank
1	Kennewick-Richland	WA	294396	3	3	9	81	27	66	50	38
2	St. George	UT	172127	2	2	101	70	5	37	7	7
3	Gulfport-Biloxi	MS	414662	19	18	68	3	23	56	67	29
4	Greeley	CO	315389	1	1	53	117	47	24	2	120
5	Reno	NV	468268	21	21	42	120	37	48	23	46
6	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land	TX	6979613	32	32	57	58	20	62	30	42
7	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard	WA	268945	6	6	17	132	78	26	77	68
7	Coeur d’Alene	ID	161676	12	12	103	105	14	53	14	5
9	Salem	OR	428472	30	30	34	114	76	8	87	9
10	Provo-Orem	UT	633129	11	11	89	95	7	128	5	12
11	Sioux Falls	SD	264437	37	37	90	43	16	29	6	81
12	Ogden-Clearfield	UT	672948	14	14	67	84	38	103	34	50
13	Boise City	ID	730483	24	24	109	89	13	89	8	4
14	Salt Lake City	UT	1215955	26	26	55	115	29	97	35	47
15	Bend	OR	191749	15	15	47	133	17	145	54	23
16	Santa Rosa-Petaluma	CA	496801	16	16	8	143	137	33	116	19
17	Cape Coral-Fort Myers	FL	756570	4	4	117	99	45	67	20	43
18	Baton Rouge	LA	856779	8	8	63	26	30	90	101	125
19	Augusta-Richmond County	GA-SC	605303	22	21	49	32	65	88	80	97
20	Wilmington	NC	293339	52	52	106	74	28	20	21	33
21	Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise	NV	2228866	28	27	36	93	51	91	72	84
22	Tulsa	OK	996141	44	42	72	2	92	54	95	41
23	Lakeland-Winter Haven	FL	705735	42	42	121	60	50	64	9	8
24	Corpus Christi	TX	429120	10	10	83	48	144	18	98	57
25	Prescott Valley-Prescott	AZ	232396	9	9	79	111	58	44	62	105
26	The Villages	FL	129938	5	5	136	93	4	36	1	145
26	Naples-Marco Island	FL	379345	7	6	92	122	32	136	42	30
28	Chico	CA	223344	66	66	32	125	142	4	39	2
29	North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton	FL	821613	20	18	107	110	35	69	11	79
30	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater	WA	284698	76	76	14	126	53	28	76	49
31	Colorado Springs	CO	735480	60	59	61	102	63	41	16	66
32	Rapid City	SD	140653	13	13	115	52	140	12	24	93
33	Daphne-Fairhope-Foley	AL	218289	40	40	139	62	22	75	31	3
34	Punta Gorda	FL	185926	17	17	133	89	79	9	4	96
35	Des Moines-West Des Moines	IA	690585	55	52	46	36	6	114	57	129
36	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue	WA	3928498	53	52	5	138	34	87	75	95
37	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia	NC-SC	2595027	77	77	85	68	19	61	29	20
38	Fort Collins	CO	350523	36	35	48	121	62	96	60	58
39	Lake Havasu City-Kingman	AZ	210998	25	25	118	71	109	38	56	17
40	Port St. Lucie	FL	481334	18	18	130	96	88	79	17	13
41	Fargo	ND-MN	243966	48	48	54	31	11	107	66	144
42	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom	CA	2338866	29	27	13	137	108	106	96	54
43	Omaha-Council Bluffs	NE-IA	940163	47	46	59	44	69	52	82	108
44	Spokane-Spokane Valley	WA	558635	51	50	26	92	110	63	89	55
45	Raleigh-Cary	NC	1362997	63	62	71	81	12	116	15	69
46	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario	CA	4600396	34	34	25	134	112	51	112	63
47	Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown	TX	2173804	69	69	73	118	8	123	3	21
48	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford	FL	2560260	62	62	104	97	24	72	27	14
49	Lincoln	NE	333193	65	65	80	54	42	16	45	119
50	Denver-Aurora-Lakewood	CO	2928437	43	42	41	128	77	94	49	85
51	Panama City	FL	180076	23	23	132	101	146	21	44	1
52	Jacksonville	FL	1533796	58	57	116	74	41	77	13	37
53	Bakersfield	CA	892458	54	52	24	103	105	35	123	76
54	Urban Honolulu	HI	979682	27	27	4	144	104	40	136	141
55	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro	OR-WA	2472774	50	50	12	135	46	135	110	56
56	Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson	IN	2050933	80	80	44	20	80	47	74	107
57	Hilton Head Island-Bluffton	SC	219290	49	48	124	122	31	3	22	89
58	Ocala	FL	360210	45	42	141	53	81	59	12	44
59	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler	AZ	4860338	57	57	60	109	57	108	38	72
60	Wichita	KS	639668	56	56	76	3	127	5	105	116
61	Oklahoma City	OK	1397040	41	41	74	6	74	117	94	115
62	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach	FL	658961	39	39	135	80	102	11	28	71
63	San Antonio-New Braunfels	TX	2510211	81	81	93	42	67	46	36	60
64	Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach	SC-NC	481489	64	62	140	54	15	55	10	83
65	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	TX	7451858	90	89	77	72	36	95	32	31
66	Pittsburgh	PA	2324447	61	59	33	46	118	7	143	130
67	Stockton	CA	751615	83	81	21	131	95	19	68	114
68	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News	VA-NC	1768956	35	35	69	74	66	105	117	126
69	Albuquerque	NM	915986	33	32	96	44	100	92	114	91
70	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad	CA	3323970	67	66	16	141	113	45	118	87
71	Warner Robins	GA	182819	85	85	62	22	138	25	40	139
72	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville	FL	594001	38	37	105	78	106	49	83	109
73	College Station-Bryan	TX	261701	82	81	137	39	18	73	64	40
74	Lafayette	LA	490220	31	30	99	16	64	140	111	133
75	Knoxville	TN	861872	74	74	84	32	132	42	88	77
76	Fort Wayne	IN	409419	84	84	50	3	141	80	102	86
77	Gainesville	GA	201434	132	132	112	64	40	6	25	10
78	Grand Rapids-Kentwood	MI	1069696	106	104	58	49	101	43	125	24
79	St. Louis	IL	2806349	97	94	19	16	117	50	128	142
80	Portland-South Portland	ME	536314	87	86	65	129	87	15	85	74
80	Charleston-North Charleston	SC	790955	75	74	95	100	21	124	48	73
82	Kansas City	KS	2144129	96	94	35	32	82	86	100	124
83	Clarksville	TN-KY	304584	131	130	127	13	10	82	19	11
84	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington	MN-WI	3605450	104	104	11	113	103	71	69	92
85	Fresno	CA	990204	92	92	27	115	98	39	93	110
86	Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin	TN	1904186	100	100	87	86	25	143	33	27
87	Richmond	VA	1282067	59	59	78	77	121	60	65	132
88	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers	AR-MO	526101	105	104	119	21	84	76	18	52
89	Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent	FL	496278	46	46	138	68	68	138	79	39
90	Asheville	NC	459344	91	89	110	105	48	68	73	28
91	Huntsville	AL	464607	118	118	88	30	49	133	51	22
92	Worcester	MA-CT	943312	110	108	10	130	119	2	129	88
93	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin	FL	278479	72	72	122	112	43	134	46	35
94	Madison	WI	660212	95	94	28	79	56	142	78	136
95	Lubbock	TX	320031	89	89	128	14	39	118	43	101
96	Birmingham-Hoover	AL	1088170	68	66	94	23	143	93	120	75
97	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater	FL	3152928	73	72	108	97	73	129	86	26
98	Hagerstown-Martinsburg	MD-WV	285990	130	130	82	81	9	14	47	143
99	Fayetteville	NC	523480	129	129	123	15	1	34	104	62
100	Visalia	CA	463955	116	116	39	108	94	22	84	117
101	Auburn-Opelika	AL	163461	94	94	143	37	33	113	26	80
102	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta	GA	5947008	134	132	64	89	60	78	71	32
103	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara	CA	1985926	114	113	1	145	96	85	130	64
104	Columbus	OH	2101543	133	132	43	51	85	99	109	36
105	El Paso	TX	841602	79	78	144	11	61	111	115	45
106	Greensboro-High Point	NC	767467	103	102	102	24	111	57	107	61
107	Gainesville	FL	327329	117	116	125	65	2	27	61	118
108	Rochester	NY	1071784	109	108	30	62	124	32	138	135
109	Salisbury	MD-DE	411137	78	78	91	104	52	125	63	121
110	Lexington-Fayette	KY	514273	122	121	66	26	86	121	108	48
111	Winston-Salem	NC	671156	119	119	120	28	89	17	97	59
111	Columbia	SC	832925	126	124	113	37	59	65	59	65
113	Greenville-Anderson	SC	908680	108	108	111	56	54	131	52	51
114	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria	DC-VA-MD-WV	6250309	102	102	31	136	83	102	103	102
115	Chattanooga	TN-GA	561055	124	124	98	28	72	115	99	15
116	Savannah	GA	390211	139	139	100	65	55	84	55	25
117	Killeen-Temple	TX	452428	107	104	134	11	44	100	70	94
118	San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley	CA	4709220	86	86	2	146	114	141	140	103
119	Harrisburg-Carlisle	PA	574691	137	137	38	58	97	13	113	138
120	Tucson	AZ	1038476	98	94	86	67	93	70	90	128
121	Boston-Cambridge-Newton	MA-NH	4854808	111	111	7	140	91	122	127	90
122	Albany-Schenectady-Troy	NY	880766	101	100	20	86	99	110	137	146
123	New Orleans-Metairie	LA	1271651	71	69	70	40	130	139	124	137
124	Athens-Clarke County	GA	210810	144	144	114	56	71	30	41	70
125	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach	FL	6129858	93	93	75	124	116	120	121	18
126	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton	NC	367982	143	143	126	18	122	1	92	16
127	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim	CA	13211027	127	124	15	142	115	101	134	34
128	Brownsville-Harlingen	TX	422135	146	146	146	7	70	31	91	6
129	Dayton-Kettering	OH	805929	141	141	51	10	135	23	132	112
130	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn	MI	4317384	120	119	29	47	133	98	141	104
131	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson	MD	2800427	70	69	52	119	125	112	131	140
132	New York-Newark-Jersey City	NY-NJ-PA	19261570	123	121	3	139	139	58	122	111
133	Providence-Warwick	RI-MA	1621099	88	86	22	127	126	132	146	106
134	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission	TX	861137	142	142	145	1	26	83	53	67
135	Milwaukee-Waukesha	WI	1576525	115	113	23	50	131	104	142	134
136	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton	PA-NJ	841265	138	138	40	73	123	10	135	131
137	Durham-Chapel Hill	NC	636256	145	145	81	84	3	126	58	100
138	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway	AR	740602	99	99	131	8	90	119	106	99
139	Cincinnati	OH-KY-IN	2214265	121	121	45	40	107	144	133	113
140	Cleveland-Elyria	OH	2053137	140	139	37	19	134	81	145	123
141	Tallahassee	FL	384783	125	124	142	60	75	74	81	53
142	Louisville-Jefferson County	KY-IN	1262287	113	113	56	32	136	137	126	122
143	Spartanburg	SC	313791	112	111	129	24	145	130	37	78
144	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin	IL-IN-WI	9478801	136	136	5	86	129	109	144	127
145	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington	PA-NJ-DE-MD	6092403	128	128	18	107	120	146	139	98
146	Memphis	TN-MS-AR	1343150	135	135	97	9	128	127	119	82

 

Methodology

• For this study, we only considered metros with more than 1,000 permits issued in the first half of 2022, between January and June.
• Eight indicators were selected to identify the most dynamic metros for construction and extraction occupations.
• Each factor received a weight to reflect its importance in obtaining the final rank: Construction jobs in 1,000 jobs (20%); Mean wage for construction occupations (20%); Change in housing units (10%); Change in building permits for January-June 2022 vs January-June 2021 (10%); Permits per housing units (10%); Change in the number of establishments (10%); Location quotient (10%); Cost of living (10%). The resulting scores were used to rank the 146 metros in the analysis, with some metros scoring similar points.
• An “establishment” is defined as a single physical location at which construction-related business is conducted, or services or industrial operations are performed. It is not necessarily equivalent to a company or enterprise, which may consist of one or more establishments. A single-unit company owns or operates only one establishment, whereas a multi-unit company owns or operates two or more establishments. 
• A “location quotient (LQ)” compares the concentration of an industry within a specific area to the nationwide concentration of said industry. An LQ greater than 1 indicates an industry with a greater share of the local area employment than is the case nationwide. For example, Las Vegas will have an LQ greater than 1 in the Leisure & Hospitality industry because this industry makes up a larger share of Las Vegas employment than it does for the entire nation.
• For this study, we used the most recent available data on construction employees (2021), mean wage (2021), establishment changes (2020 vs 2017), building permits (January-June 2022 vs January-June 2021), and housing unit changes (2020 vs 2015).
• Sources used: data on population, housing units, building permits, and construction establishments extracted from Census; data about employees/jobs, location quotient, and annual wage was extracted from BLS; Cost of Living Index was calculated by Advisor Smith.

 

Fair use and redistribution

We encourage and freely grant permission to reuse, host or repost this article. When doing so, we only ask that you kindly attribute the authors by linking to Point2Homes.com or this page, so that your readers can learn more about this project, the research behind it and its methodology.