Short answer
The Baton Rouge metro had 1,810 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 63,452 people with $4.87 billion in annual payroll, according to the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns. The average establishment has 35.1 employees, the most of any of the 135 metros with 1,000 or more construction establishments. Utility and industrial contractors employ 32,286 of the workers. East Baton Rouge Parish has 928 establishments, and nine sites in the metro have 1,000 or more employees.
- 1,810 construction establishments and 63,452 employees in the Baton Rouge metro in 2023.
- 35.1 employees per establishment, against 9.4 nationally and 21.4 in Las Vegas, the next-largest.
- 88 utility system contractors, the group that includes refinery and petrochemical plant construction, employ 32,286 people.
- Louisiana requires a state license for commercial projects of $50,000 or more, and for electrical, mechanical and plumbing work over $10,000.
- East Baton Rouge Parish issued 7,366 permits in 2025 naming 1,646 different contractors.
On this page
This report is for plant owners and developers choosing contractors around Baton Rouge, contractors looking for partners or subcontractors, and B2B sellers whose customers are industrial and commercial builders in Louisiana's Capital Region. It covers the Census count, what makes this market unusual, Louisiana's license thresholds, parish permit data and where to find names.
Baton Rouge construction in one table
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Baton Rouge, LA Metro Area (CBSA 12940):
| Measure | Metro Baton Rouge, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 1,810 |
| Employees (pay period including March 12) | 63,452 |
| Annual payroll | $4,870,807,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 35.1 |
| Average annual pay | $76,764 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 0.22% (of 814,557) |
Among the 135 metros with at least 1,000 construction establishments, none comes close on size: Las Vegas is second at 21.4 employees per establishment (our calculation from the CBP metro file). No SEC-registered listed construction company has its business address in the metro.
An industrial construction market
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees | Employees per establishment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 166 | 34,808 | 209.7 |
| Utility system construction, including oil and gas pipelines, refineries and petrochemical plants (2371) | 88 | 32,286 | 366.9 |
| Highway, street and bridge (237310) | 34 | 1,475 | 43.4 |
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 1,126 | 23,158 | 20.6 |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 204 | 7,050 | 34.6 |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 282 | 3,016 | 10.7 |
| Other specialty trades, including scaffolding, crane rental and paving (238990) | 146 | 2,205 | 15.1 |
| Site preparation (238910) | 74 | 1,865 | 25.2 |
| Construction of buildings (236) | 518 | 5,486 | 10.6 |
| Industrial building construction (236210) | 21 | 2,397 | 114.1 |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 141 | 1,501 | 10.6 |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 211 | 823 | 3.9 |
Utility system construction (NAICS 2371) includes oil and gas pipeline and related structures, which the Census Bureau defines to cover refinery, petrochemical plant and storage tank construction. Those 88 establishments hold 51% of the metro's construction jobs. Industrial building contractors, which build chemical plants and similar process facilities, average 114 employees. Electrical contractors average 34.6 employees, against 12.2 for electrical contractors nationally (our calculation from the CBP state file).
For a seller, that means two markets in one: a few dozen very large industrial contractors that buy like manufacturers (safety, staffing, equipment, scaffolding, project controls), and about 1,500 small firms that buy like any local trade.
Parish by parish
| Parish | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| East Baton Rouge | 928 | 47,760 |
| Livingston | 347 | 3,062 |
| Ascension | 290 | 9,636 |
| West Baton Rouge | 69 | 1,288 |
| Iberville | 42 | 733 |
| Pointe Coupee | 37 | 153 |
| Assumption | 34 | 509 |
| East Feliciana | 30 | not reported (high-noise figure) |
| West Feliciana | 21 | not reported (high-noise figure) |
| St. Helena | 12 | not reported (high-noise figure) |
The three Feliciana and St. Helena employee figures are published but flagged by the Census Bureau, because the noise it adds to protect confidentiality changed them by 5% or more. East Baton Rouge has 51% of establishments and 75% of employees, an average of 51.5. Ascension averages 33.2 and Livingston 8.8.
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 1,059 |
| 5 to 9 | 290 |
| 10 to 19 | 187 |
| 20 to 49 | 155 |
| 50 to 99 | 61 |
| 100 to 249 | 38 |
| 250 to 499 | 4 |
| 500 to 999 | 7 |
| 1,000 or more | 9 |
In broader bands: 1,536 establishments have 1 to 19 employees, 216 have 20 to 99 and 58 have 100 or more. Nine establishments with 1,000 or more employees is more than in the much larger Seattle (3) or Philadelphia (4) metros.
What CBP counts. Establishments are locations with paid employees, not companies. An industrial contractor's Baton Rouge office may report every worker it has on plant sites in the area, which is part of why the averages are so high. Self-employed contractors aren't included.
Louisiana's license thresholds
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) licenses contractors statewide:
| Work | Who may bid or perform it |
|---|---|
| Commercial projects of $50,000 or more, labor and materials included | A licensed commercial contractor; subcontracts of that size need a licensed subcontractor |
| Electrical, mechanical and plumbing work over $10,000 | A contractor licensed in that classification |
| Asbestos, hazardous waste, lead-based paint abatement and underground storage tanks | A license for any project value |
| Residential construction over $50,000 | A licensed residential building contractor |
| Home improvement of $7,500 or more | A home improvement registrant or licensed contractor |
A commercial license needs a financial statement showing at least $50,000 in net worth, completion of the board's business and law course, a trade exam where the classification requires one, and proof of workers' compensation. The LSLBC search covers name, license number, city, parish, classification and qualifying party.
What East Baton Rouge permitted in 2025
The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge publish every construction and occupancy permit on their open data portal, with project value and contractor name. In 2025 the parish issued 7,366 permits with $1.58 billion in stated project value, naming 1,646 different contractors.
| Permit type (2025) | Permits | Different contractors |
|---|---|---|
| New building, residential | 434 | 142 |
| New building, commercial | 83 | 56 |
| Remodel of existing building, commercial | 255 | 146 |
| Remodel of existing building, residential | 400 | 199 |
| Re-roof, residential | 420 | 117 |
| Electrical, residential | 701 | 259 |
| Electrical, commercial | 225 | 116 |
| Generator, residential | 316 | 75 |
Treat the file as a view of commercial and residential work; it isn't a full record of projects inside industrial plants. Across the metro, the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey estimates 4,314 new housing units were authorized in 2025, up from 3,806 in 2024, as units in buildings of five or more rose from 459 to 1,517 while single-family units fell from 3,250 to 2,775.
How to vet a Baton Rouge contractor
- Search the LSLBC license by name or number and confirm the classification and the commercial or residential type match the job and its value.
- Check the parish permit file for the contractor's recent jobs, by name.
- For plant work, ask for the safety record your site requires (EMR, OSHA logs, prequalification with your owner's safety program) and get insurance certificates directly from the insurer.
- Confirm workers' compensation, which the LSLBC requires for every license type.
Selling to Baton Rouge contractors
| Size band | Establishments | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 1,536 | The owner |
| 20 to 99 employees | 216 | Owner with a project manager, estimator or safety lead |
| 100 or more | 58 | Site managers, procurement, safety, equipment and craft workforce leaders |
The 58 large establishments are where industrial spend sits, and each has several buyers: safety, equipment, craft recruiting and procurement. Our guide on enterprise account research covers how to map buyers inside companies that size.
Illustrative example. The company, rates and assumptions are invented; the counts are from CBP 2023.
Bayou Access Scaffold (bayouaccess.example) rents and erects industrial scaffolding. Its market is the 58 establishments with 100 or more employees, plus the 61 with 50 to 99. If 40% of those 119 do plant maintenance or turnaround work, that's 48 accounts. Winning eight, each spending $350,000 a year on scaffold services, is $2.8 million in annual revenue. The research that decides the order is which contractors hold maintenance contracts at which plants and when their turnarounds start. Bebop finds contractors that match a description like that and writes a playbook for each account.
Where to find names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| LSLBC contractor search | Licensed contractors by name, number, city, parish, classification or qualifying party |
| EBR Building Permits (open data) | Every construction and occupancy permit in East Baton Rouge Parish, with value and contractor |
| ABC Pelican Chapter | Louisiana's merit shop contractors' association, based in Baton Rouge, with a member directory and craft training |
| Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership | The former Baton Rouge Area Chamber, covering nine parishes, with parish profiles and a sites database |
Next step: compare the region's other large market in the New Orleans construction companies report, or see the statewide Louisiana construction companies report.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- County Business Patterns methodology, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- North American Industry Classification System, 2022 manual (237120 and 238990), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual metro area data 2025 and 2024, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Types of licenses, Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, accessed 30 October 2026
- Licensing requirements for contractors in Louisiana, Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, accessed 30 October 2026
- EBR Building Permits, City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge Open Data, updated 29 October 2026, queried 30 October 2026
- ABC Pelican Chapter, Associated Builders and Contractors, Pelican Chapter, accessed 30 October 2026
- Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership, Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Baton Rouge?
The US Census Bureau counted 1,810 construction establishments with paid employees in the Baton Rouge metro area in 2023, employing 63,452 people with $4.87 billion in payroll. East Baton Rouge Parish had 928 of them, Livingston 347 and Ascension 290. These are locations rather than companies, and self-employed contractors without employees aren't counted.
Why are Baton Rouge construction companies so large?
Because so much of the work is industrial. The 88 utility system contractors in the metro, a group that includes refinery and petrochemical plant construction, employed 32,286 people in 2023, about half of all construction workers. The metro averages 35.1 employees per construction establishment, the highest of any US metro with at least 1,000 construction establishments.
When do you need a contractor's license in Louisiana?
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors requires a commercial license for commercial projects of $50,000 or more, including labor and materials, and a license in the right classification for electrical, mechanical or plumbing work over $10,000. Residential construction over $50,000 needs a residential license, and home improvement work of $7,500 or more needs a registered or licensed contractor.
How can I find contractors working in East Baton Rouge Parish?
The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge publish every construction and occupancy permit on their open data portal, with the contractor's name and project value. In 2025 the parish issued 7,366 permits naming 1,646 different contractors. Pair it with the LSLBC contractor search, which you can filter by parish and classification.