According to AGC’s Data Digest last week, immigrants accounted for one in four construction workers in 2022, based on the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the National Association of Home Builders reported in December.
“The share is significantly higher (31%) among construction tradesmen,” NAHB posted in a follow-up analysis on March 20. “The concentration of immigrants is particularly high in construction trades essential for home building, such as plasterers and stucco masons (64%), drywall/ceiling tile installers (52%), painters (48%), roofers (47%), carpet/floor/tile installers (46%). The two most prevalent construction occupations, laborers and carpenters, account for over a quarter of the construction labor force. A third of all carpenters and 41% of construction laborers are [immigrants.] Reliance on foreign-born labor is quite uneven across the US states. Immigrants comprise close to 40% of the construction workforce in California and Texas,” 38% in Florida, and 37% in New York and New Jersey….At the other end of the spectrum, nine northern states have the share of immigrant workers below 5%. While most states draw the majority of immigrant foreign-born workers from the Americas, Hawaii relies more heavily on Asian immigrants. European immigrants are a significant source of construction labor in New York, New Jersey and Illinois.”
