BY NATALIA SINIAVSKAIA | NAHB
Earlier this month, we published a post highlighting a high and rising reliance of construction on immigrant workers. Foreign-born workers now account for almost a quarter of workers in the construction industry, and close to 30% of construction tradesmen. In some states, reliance on foreign-born labor is even more pronounced. Immigrants comprise close to 40% of the construction workforce in California and Texas. In Florida, New Jersey and New York, close to 37% of the construction labor force is foreign-born and in Nevada, one out of three construction industry workers come from abroad.
Traditionally, construction immigrants are concentrated in a few populous states, with more than half of all immigrant construction workers (56%) residing in California, Texas, Florida, and New York. These are not only the most populous states in the U.S. (together accounting for nearly a third of the country’s population), they are also particularly reliant on foreign-born construction labor, as more than a third of the construction industry workforce in these states comes from abroad.
California and Texas take the lead on the state list with close to 40% of the construction labor force coming from abroad. The foreign-born share is similarly high in Florida, New Jersey, and New York, between 36 and 37%. In Nevada, one of out three workers in construction is foreign-born.
