Labor Report Shows Dire Need for New Construction Workers

America will need thousands of new skilled construction workers to reduce the nation's housing deficit — a shortfall NAHB estimates to total 1.5 million homes — according to the latest Construction Labor Market Report from the Home Builders Institute (HBI).

The free report provides an overview of the current state of the nation’s construction labor market.

Key findings in the report include:

• There are currently 8.3 million payroll construction workers in the U.S. Of those, 3.4 million work in residential construction.
• The estimated, required amount of construction worker hiring is approximately 723,000 per year, according to NAHB analysis of BLS data and projections.
• As of August, the six-month moving average of new residential construction worker hiring is 5,667 per month.
• Average hourly wages in the overall construction industry have increased 4.3% over the last year.
• The average hourly earnings of construction workers is $38.30 as of July, higher than the national average hourly earnings for manufacturing ($34.10) and all U.S. occupations ($35.10).
• Women make up a growing share of construction employment, reaching 10.8% in 2023, up significantly from 9.1% in 2017.
• Hispanics make up close to a third of the construction labor force (31.1%), a record high share.

To learn more about the residential construction labor market, view the report.

NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz and HBI CEO Ed Brady discussed the report’s key findings, trends and possible solutions for the labor shortage in a recent HBI podcast episode embedded below: