Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, Texas and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill. Lead in Job Gains Over 12 Months; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. and Lawton, Okla. Have Worst Job Losses
Construction employment increased in 192, or 53 percent, of 360 metro areas between April 2025 and April 2026, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials said growing pushback against the construction of data centers and the potential failure of Congress to pass a new highway and transit bill soon could pose a threat to construction employment levels.
“While it is encouraging to see a majority of metros adding construction jobs, the growth is uneven and fragile,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Given how much construction today is being driven by new data centers and infrastructure, the growing backlash to data center construction has the potential to disrupt the industry’s fragile job growth.”
Between April 2025 and April 2026, 192 metro areas added construction jobs, 117 lost jobs, and employment was unchanged in 51 areas. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, Texas added the most construction jobs over the year (8,900 jobs or 4 percent), followed by St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. (7,300 jobs, 9 percent); Baton Rouge, La. (6,500 jobs, 13 percent); Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C. (5,900 jobs, 7 percent) and Columbus, Ohio (5,700 jobs, 10 percent).
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill. had the largest percentage gain (17 percent, 1,700 jobs), followed by three areas with 13 percent increases: Baton Rouge; Eau Claire, Wis. (500 jobs) and Kankakee, Ill. (200 jobs). In addition, there were 12 percent increases in Bloomington, Ind. (400 jobs) and Weirton-Steubenville, W. Va.-Ohio (600 jobs).
Construction employment declined in 117 metro areas and was flat in 51 areas during the past year. The largest job loss occurred in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. metro division (-5,000 jobs, -3 percent), followed by Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, Calif. (-4,700 jobs, -6 percent); Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-4,500 jobs, -4 percent; Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash. (-4,100 jobs, -5 percent); and the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, Calif. division (-3,500 jobs, -3 percent). The steepest percentage loss occurred in Lawton, Okla. (-26 percent, -500 jobs), followed by Fairbanks-College, Alaska (-18 percent, -500 jobs) and Monroe, Mich. (-9 percent, -200 jobs).
Association officials noted growing local opposition to data center construction has the potential to disrupt one of the relatively few growth areas for the construction industry. The association has created resources to help explain the economic benefits of new data centers. At the same time, they urged members of Congress to pass a new highway and transit bill by Sept. 30 to allow vital infrastructure construction work to continue.
“Politics is driving the fate of vital technology and transportation infrastructure projects,” said Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the association’s chief executive officer.
View the metro employment data by metro, rank and top 10 changes.