U.S. Construction Industry Statistics 2026: Spending, Costs, and Labor Data
By Virginia Viadas
The U.S. construction industry enters mid-2026 defined by a single word: unevenness. Total spending sits at record nominal levels while real volume declines, material costs climb under the most aggressive tariff regime in four decades, and the labor gap approaches half a million workers. This data hub compiles the most current verified statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, AGC, ABC, and industry forecasters — updated for 2026.
Market size: the $2.2 trillion industry
Construction spending in April 2026 ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,172.4 billion, 0.4 percent above the revised March estimate of $2,164.5 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The industry represents 4.4% of U.S. GDP, with total construction employment of 8.3 million workers.
| Key indicator | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total construction spending (SAAR, April 2026) | $2,172.4 billion | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Nonresidential construction | $729.8 billion | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Public construction | $532.7 billion | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Highway construction | $149.6 billion | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Share of U.S. GDP | 4.4% | Census / BEA |
| Industry employment | 8.3 million | BLS |
Material costs: a 40-year high in tariff pressure
The effective tariff rate for construction goods has climbed to a 40-year high of 25% to 30%, with tariffs on steel and aluminum reaching up to 50%, according to Deloitte's 2026 Engineering and Construction Outlook. Since early 2020, construction input prices have increased more than 43 percent, with fabricated structural metal products up over 63 percent, per BLS data.
The sharpest 2026 increases by category: copper wire and cable up 22–36% year-over-year and aluminum up 30–33%, driven partly by data center demand — a single 1-GW AI data center now consumes up to 50,000 metric tons of copper, 3–4 times more than a conventional facility, with switchgear lead times stretching to 2–4 years in some markets.
JLL reports material prices in 2025 averaged approximately 4.2 percent above 2024 levels, with longer-term tariff impacts expected to range from 5 to 25 percent depending on material type.
The labor shortage: the binding constraint
The industry needs nearly 500,000 additional workers in 2026 to meet projected demand, after requiring approximately 439,000 in 2025. About 94 percent of contractors report difficulty filling open positions, and nearly 40 percent of skilled construction workers are over age 45, accelerating retirement risk. Of the industry's 12 million payroll and nonpayroll employees, a quarter are foreign-born — rising to a third among craft workers — making construction more exposed to immigration policy shifts than almost any other industry.
Sector performance: data centers carry the market
The market is sharply bifurcated. Data center construction is on track to gain 31% ($13 billion) in 2026, after a 32% surge in 2025, and is forecast to reach $195 billion. Meanwhile, the AIA Consensus Construction Forecast projects nonresidential building spending will grow just 2.0% in 2026, constrained by high long-term interest rates, falling consumer confidence and labor shortages.
The stress is visible in project pipelines: almost two-thirds of contractors report at least one project postponed, scaled back, or cancelled within the past six months, per an AGC/Sage survey, and ABC's November backlog reading of 8.1 months tied the lowest level since the pandemic.
What it means for suppliers in 2026
The defining feature of the 2026 cost environment is that pressures vary widely by geography, sector, and material mix — volatility is no longer an anomaly, it is the baseline. For construction supply businesses, that translates into three imperatives: early procurement, indexed pricing tied to published cost benchmarks (increasingly written into contracts as tariff-escalation clauses), and prioritizing the segments still growing — data centers, energy infrastructure, and public works.
Methodology and sources
Data compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau (Monthly Construction Spending, May 2026 release), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (PPI), Deloitte 2026 Engineering & Construction Industry Outlook, AIA Consensus Construction Forecast (January 2026), AGC, ABC, JLL, and ConstructConnect. Updated July 2026.