Short answer
Georgia had 22,475 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 216,909 people with $16.1 billion in annual payroll, according to Census County Business Patterns: 2.76% of the US total and 10th among states. Metro Atlanta has 14,024 of them. The largest public construction companies headquartered in Georgia are homebuilders: PulteGroup ($17.31 billion in 2025 revenue), Beazer Homes and Smith Douglas Homes.
- 22,475 construction establishments and 216,909 employees in Georgia in 2023, 10th among states on both counts.
- Metro Atlanta holds 62% of the state's construction establishments and 68% of its construction jobs.
- Georgia authorized 61,196 housing units in 2025, down from 68,367; Savannah's metro rose from 4,037 to 5,371.
- PulteGroup, Beazer Homes and Smith Douglas Homes are headquartered in Georgia and together reported $20.65 billion in revenue.
- Site preparation firms average 15.6 employees, against 11.3 nationally, a sign of how much land is being cleared for subdivisions.
On this page
This report is for anyone working with Georgia contractors beyond a single city: developers and owners comparing builders across regions, companies looking at acquisitions or partners, people choosing where to work, and B2B sellers planning a Georgia territory. For the city itself, see the Atlanta construction companies report.
Georgia construction at a glance
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), State of Georgia:
| Measure | Georgia, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 22,475 |
| Employees | 216,909 |
| Annual payroll | $16,125,142,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 9.7 |
| Average annual pay | $74,341 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 2.76% (of 814,557) |
| Rank among states by establishments | 10th |
Georgia also ranks 10th by construction employment. Pay averages about $2,200 less than the $76,580 national construction figure (our calculation from the CBP state files).
Atlanta and the rest of the state
| Metro area | Establishments | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | 14,024 | 147,101 | $79,356 |
| Augusta-Richmond County (Georgia and South Carolina) | 1,070 | 10,029 | $63,694 |
| Chattanooga (Tennessee and Georgia) | 1,047 | 12,968 | $75,589 |
| Savannah | 862 | 8,920 | $69,413 |
| Gainesville | 584 | 4,630 | $67,855 |
| Athens-Clarke County | 472 | 3,598 | $72,758 |
| Columbus (Georgia and Alabama) | 460 | 4,179 | $58,078 |
| Macon-Bibb County | 359 | 2,993 | $64,803 |
Metro Atlanta holds 62% of Georgia's construction establishments and 68% of its jobs. Augusta, Chattanooga and Columbus cross state lines, so their totals include firms in South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama. Outside Atlanta, construction pay drops sharply: Columbus averages about $21,000 less than Atlanta.
Public homebuilders headquartered in Georgia
| Company | Headquarters | Revenue, latest fiscal year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| PulteGroup | Atlanta | $17.31 billion (2025) | Form 10-K, filed February 2026 |
| Beazer Homes USA | Atlanta | $2.37 billion (year to 30 Sept 2025) | Form 10-K, filed November 2025 |
| Smith Douglas Homes | Woodstock | $971.1 million in home closing revenue (2025) | Form 10-K, filed March 2026 |
SEC company records list no other listed construction company with a Georgia business address, and all three build homes. Revenue is company-wide: PulteGroup builds across the country, and Smith Douglas reports Southeast and Central divisions. The state's large commercial general contractors are private and don't publish revenue.
The housing pipeline
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey counted 61,196 housing units authorized in Georgia in 2025, down 10% from 68,367 in 2024, with an estimated construction value of $15.76 billion: 44,351 single-family homes, 1,349 in two- to four-unit buildings and 15,496 in buildings of five or more units.
| Metro area | Units authorized, 2025 | Single-family | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | 33,670 | 22,065 | 40,687 |
| Savannah | 5,371 | 3,226 | 4,037 |
| Augusta-Richmond County | 4,141 | 3,688 | 4,658 |
| Gainesville | 1,996 | 1,892 | 2,339 |
Atlanta's drop accounts for almost all of the state's decline, while Savannah's metro grew by a third, mostly in apartments: 2,063 of its 5,371 units were in buildings of five or more units.
What Georgia's contractors do
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 3,126 | 9,842 |
| New single-family general contractors (236115) | 1,867 | 5,467 |
| For-sale homebuilders (236117) | 468 | 4,746 |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 1,376 | 20,447 |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 3,101 | 33,250 |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 2,491 | 32,920 |
| Roofing (238160) | 806 | 4,688 |
| Concrete foundation and structure (238110) | 615 | 7,353 |
| Site preparation (238910) | 1,170 | 18,284 |
| Power and communication lines (237130) | 322 | 8,187 |
| Water and sewer lines (237110) | 390 | 4,622 |
| Highway, street and bridge (2373) | 230 | 11,757 |
Site preparation firms average 15.6 employees, against 11.3 nationally, and highway contractors 51. Both scale with new subdivisions and the roads that serve them. One heavy civil row, "other" heavy construction, has an employee total the Census Bureau flags as high-noise, so it isn't reported.
Size
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 15,013 |
| 5 to 9 | 3,304 |
| 10 to 19 | 2,045 |
| 20 to 49 | 1,396 |
| 50 to 99 | 425 |
| 100 to 249 | 220 |
| 250 to 499 | 43 |
| 500 to 999 | 21 |
| 1,000 or more | 8 |
That's 20,362 establishments (90.6%) with 1 to 19 employees, 1,821 with 20 to 99 and 292 with 100 or more. CBP counts locations with paid employees, not companies; a homebuilder with division offices in Atlanta and Savannah counts twice. It leaves out the self-employed, and employment is for the pay period including March 12, 2023.
Licensing in brief
Georgia licenses builders at state level, through the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors in the Secretary of State's office. A general contractor license requires one of three combinations of education and experience (four years of construction experience, at least two with a general contractor, for those without a degree), an affirmed net worth of at least $150,000, general liability insurance of at least $500,000, workers' compensation and a passed exam. Residential licenses and a limited tier for smaller commercial contracts sit alongside it; the Atlanta report sets out the tiers. Trade contractors, electrical contractors among them, are licensed by the divisions of a separate State Construction Industry Licensing Board.
Selling across Georgia
| Size band | Establishments | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 20,362 | The owner |
| 20 to 99 employees | 1,821 | Owner with an operations, purchasing or project manager |
| 100 or more | 292 | Division presidents, purchasing and land acquisition at builders; operations and safety at contractors |
The public homebuilders buy through division purchasing teams on national or regional contracts, so a supplier wins them one division at a time. Trades and site contractors follow the subdivisions. Our guide on finding decision makers covers how to reach each.
Illustrative example. Ogeechee Site Supply and its revenue assumptions are invented; the counts are from CBP 2023 and the Census permit survey.
Ogeechee Site Supply (ogeecheesite.example) sells silt fence, erosion control blankets and stormwater inlet protection. Its targets are site preparation contractors (1,170 establishments), for-sale homebuilders (468) and water and sewer line contractors (390): 2,028 accounts. It splits Georgia into metro Atlanta and a coastal and southern territory based in Savannah, where permits rose by a third in 2025. If 60% of targets are in metro Atlanta, the Savannah rep covers about 810 accounts. Winning 10% there (81 accounts) at $25,000 a year each is about $2.0 million. Bebop can assemble that list by region from a plain-language description, with a playbook for every account.
Statewide sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Georgia general contractor rules (553-4-.01) | Experience, net worth, insurance and exam requirements |
| State Construction Industry Licensing Board rules | The rules for licensed trades |
| AGC Georgia | Commercial general and specialty contractors and suppliers, with a member search |
| ABC Georgia | More than 375 merit shop member companies |
| Census Building Permits Survey | Housing units authorized by state, metro and county |
Next step: go local with the Atlanta construction companies report, home to 62% of Georgia's construction establishments.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual state and CBSA data 2024 and 2025, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- PulteGroup, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 4 February 2026
- Beazer Homes USA, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 13 November 2025
- Smith Douglas Homes Corp. Form 10-K for 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 12 March 2026
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 553-4-.01, General Contractor licensure requirements, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed 30 October 2026
- Department 121: State Construction Industry Licensing Board, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed 30 October 2026
- AGC Georgia, Associated General Contractors of Georgia, accessed 30 October 2026
- ABC Georgia, Associated Builders and Contractors, Georgia Chapter, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are there in Georgia?
The US Census Bureau counted 22,475 construction establishments with paid employees in Georgia in 2023, employing 216,909 people. That's 2.76% of the US total and 10th among states. Metro Atlanta has 14,024 of them. The count is of business locations with a payroll, so firms with several offices count more than once and one-person contractors are missing.
What are the largest construction companies in Georgia?
The largest public construction companies headquartered in Georgia are homebuilders. PulteGroup of Atlanta reported $17.31 billion in revenue for 2025, Beazer Homes of Atlanta $2.37 billion for the year to September 2025, and Smith Douglas Homes of Woodstock $971.1 million in home closing revenue for 2025, according to their 10-K filings. Large commercial contractors in Georgia are private and don't publish revenue.
Do you need a license to be a general contractor in Georgia?
Yes. Georgia licenses general and residential contractors through the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors. A general contractor license requires qualifying education or experience, an affirmed net worth of at least $150,000, at least $500,000 of general liability insurance, workers' compensation and a passed exam. Trades such as electrical contracting are licensed by a separate board.
Where is construction growing in Georgia?
By housing permits, the Savannah metro grew fastest among Georgia's larger metros in 2025, rising from 4,037 units authorized in 2024 to 5,371, according to the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey. Metro Atlanta still authorized by far the most, 33,670 units, though that was down from 40,687. Statewide, Georgia authorized 61,196 housing units in 2025.