Women's Share of Construction Workforce Reaches 20-Year High

Women accounted for 11.3% of the construction workforce in 2025, a 20-year high, according to data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS). The number of women employed in the industry rose to around 1.37 million, an increase of around 31,000.

Increasing the number of women in the construction labor force is a huge opportunity for growth in an industry that continues to face a shortage of skilled labor.

According to CPS, the number of women in construction today has risen drastically since 2012 (828,000) with persistent increases each year. This has been a noticeable rebound from The Great Recession, which sharply reduced construction activity.

Still, most women are employed in occupations like office and administrative support, management, and business and financial operations. In fact, women accounted for 78% of office and administrative support occupations within the construction industry, according to CPS data.

Women comprised just 4% of workers in construction and extraction occupations, 3% in installation, maintenance, and repair occupations, and 6% in production occupations.

The pool of skilled workers available to the industry could expand measurably by increasing women's participation in the field.