Houston added more construction jobs than any other U.S. metro in the latest comparison available here: 14,100 jobs from August 2025 to August 2026, a 6% increase. That is the largest numerical gain—not the fastest percentage growth. Baton Rouge led on percentage growth, at 29%.
How many construction jobs did Houston add?
In the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) comparison covering August 2025 to August 2026, the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro area added 14,100 construction jobs, a 6% increase. It ranked first among 360 metro areas and metro divisions by the number of jobs added. AGC published the comparison on September 30, 2026.
The October 5, 2026 article that used the headline “Houston leads US metros in construction job gains” referred to an earlier period: July 2025 to July 2026. It reported that greater Houston added 13,100 construction jobs, up 5%. These figures describe different year-over-year windows and should not be combined or treated as conflicting readings of the same period. The July-period figures and local workforce details were reported by Invest: Houston.
What does “leads” mean in this ranking?
Houston led by the absolute number of jobs added, not by percentage growth. In the August 2025–August 2026 AGC comparison, Baton Rouge added 13,300 construction jobs, a 29% increase—the largest percentage rise. Its percentage lead and Houston’s numerical lead measure different things: a smaller metro can post a much steeper rate of growth while adding fewer jobs overall.
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| Metro area | Period | Construction jobs added | Percentage change | What it led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | August 2025–August 2026 | 14,100 (AGC, 2026) | 6% (AGC, 2026) | Largest numerical gain among 360 metro areas and divisions |
| Baton Rouge | August 2025–August 2026 | 13,300 (AGC, 2026) | 29% (AGC, 2026) | Largest percentage increase |
How broadly did construction employment grow?
Houston’s gain came amid a mixed national picture. In AGC’s August 2025–August 2026 comparison, construction employment rose in 177 of the 360 metro areas and divisions (49%), fell in 126, and was unchanged in 57. Growth in Houston therefore does not mean the construction workforce expanded everywhere.
AGC chief economist Ken Simonson said data centers, power projects and advanced manufacturing plants are spurring employment gains in many metros. That is industry-wide context, not evidence that any particular project type caused Houston’s ranking. The July-period Invest: Houston article separately described competition for skilled workers in Texas, including Dallas Fed contacts’ reports of shortages of concrete workers and electricians associated with data-center construction. Those reports indicate workforce pressure but do not quantify the cause of Houston’s metro-wide job increase.
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How to interpret the employment figures
They are estimates that can change
Metro employment estimates are preliminary, not seasonally adjusted, and may be revised. Year-over-year comparisons for the same month—such as August to August—are more useful than comparing adjacent months, which can reflect seasonal changes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also benchmarks estimates annually against unemployment-insurance tax records, which can revise earlier values. Construction Metrics’ comparison and methodology notes explain these caveats.
Metro industry coverage is not perfectly uniform
Because individual industry samples can be small in some metro areas, BLS data may combine mining, logging and construction rather than isolate construction employment. AGC uses that combined measure as construction employment where a separate construction series is unavailable, so the sector coverage is not perfectly identical across every metro in the ranking.
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A narrower Houston series is not the ranking measure
FRED displays a BLS series for “Construction of Buildings” in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. Its August 2026 observation was 68.9 thousand employees; it is not seasonally adjusted and is subject to revision. This narrower category is not interchangeable with the total construction-employment measure used for AGC’s metro ranking. See the FRED series and its observations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the job count says—and what it does not
The increase is a measure of employment change, not a count of construction projects, vacancies, or workers available for hire. The July-period Invest: Houston article also reported that total Houston employment increased by 17,500 jobs, or 0.5%, through July. That broader figure covers all employment, so it should not be compared with the construction-only count as though the two described the same labor market.
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Workforce preparation is one local response to industry needs. In the Invest: Houston article, Darrin Brust, campus president of Universal Technical Institute-Houston, said the priority is aligning training programs with employer needs. The comment describes a training approach; it does not establish how many additional workers Houston needs or how much of the reported job gain training can fill.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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