Short answer
The Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN metro had 2,929 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 32,877 people with $2.30 billion in annual payroll, according to Census County Business Patterns. Jefferson County has 1,481 of them. Louisville Metro's active contractor list has 3,231 licenses, including 1,903 Type A general building licenses. Kentucky licenses electricians, plumbers and fire protection contractors through its Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction.
- 2,929 construction establishments and 32,877 employees in metro Louisville in 2023, with average pay of $70,011.
- Jefferson County has 50.6% of establishments and 60.2% of employees; three Indiana counties add 593 establishments.
- Louisville Metro lists 3,231 active contractor licenses: 824 Type A for both residential and commercial work, 566 commercial only and 513 residential only.
- Apartment units permitted rose 31.4% in 2025, lifting total housing permits 5.9% to 6,111.
- Kentucky's highway prequalification list names about 550 contractors, about 30 of them with Louisville addresses.
On this page
- Louisville construction by the numbers
- Kentucky and Indiana, county by county
- The largest general contractors, by local billings
- What they build
- Louisville Metro's contractor licenses
- Housing permits
- Choosing a Louisville contractor
- Selling to Louisville contractors
- Where to find names
- Sources
- Questions people ask
This report is for people looking for, checking or selling to construction companies around Louisville: owners and developers hiring a builder, general contractors finding subcontractors, job seekers, and B2B sellers covering Kentuckiana.
Louisville construction by the numbers
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area (CBSA 31140):
| Measure | Metro Louisville, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 2,929 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 32,877 |
| Annual payroll | $2,301,757,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 11.2 |
| Average annual pay | $70,011 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 0.36% (of 814,557) |
| Size band | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 2,589 (88.4%) |
| 20 to 99 employees | 283 (9.7%) |
| 100 or more employees | 57 (1.9%) |
The Census Bureau doesn't publish the 500 to 999 or 1,000-or-more cells for this metro. The 100-or-more figure is the total less the smaller bands; with 44 establishments at 100 to 249 and 11 at 250 to 499, that leaves 2 with 500 or more. CBP counts establishments (locations) with paid employees, not companies, and excludes self-employed contractors.
Kentucky and Indiana, county by county
| County | State | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County | Kentucky | 1,481 | 19,779 |
| Clark County | Indiana | 289 | 3,091 |
| Bullitt County | Kentucky | 205 | 1,728 |
| Floyd County | Indiana | 200 | 2,818 |
| Oldham County | Kentucky | 187 | 1,108 |
| Nelson County | Kentucky | 137 | 1,765 |
| Shelby County | Kentucky | 123 | 703 |
| Harrison County | Indiana | 104 | 708 |
These are the metro's eight largest counties, with 2,726 of its 2,929 establishments. Jefferson County, consolidated with the city as Louisville Metro, has half the establishments and three-fifths of the jobs. Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties in Indiana have 593 establishments between them; Floyd County's establishments average 14.1 employees, the largest of any county here (Jefferson's average 13.4).
The largest general contractors, by local billings
Louisville Business First publishes an annual list of the area's biggest general contractors, ranked by billings from local offices. Its May 2025 list (2024 billings), as reposted by Calhoun Construction, ranks these ten first:
- LPX Group
- Calhoun Construction
- Buffalo Construction
- Messer
- Whittenberg
- Bosse
- Wehr Constructors
- Flynn Brothers
- East and Westbrook
- Weber Group
The list relies partly on questionnaires the firms filled in and the publication didn't independently verify, and it includes construction companies whether or not they work as general contractors. No SEC-registered listed construction company has its business address in the Louisville metro.
What they build
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees | Share here | Share in US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 449 | 6,592 | 15.3% | 13.7% |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 291 | 4,845 | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| Poured concrete foundation and structure (238110) | 112 | 1,613 | 3.8% | 2.9% |
| Roofing (238160) | 105 | 1,025 | 3.6% | 3.1% |
| Site preparation (238910) | 161 | 2,045 | 5.5% | 5.1% |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 457 | 1,542 | 15.6% | 16.6% |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 149 | 2,640 | 5.1% | 4.8% |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 106 | 2,494 | 3.6% | 4.7% |
US shares are calculated from the CBP 2023 state files summed across all states. Specialty trades are 67.5% of establishments, and the electrical, plumbing and HVAC group (788 establishments, 13,950 employees) alone accounts for 42.4% of the metro's construction jobs.
Louisville Metro's contractor licenses
Louisville Metro's Office of Construction Review publishes its active contractor licenses as open data. The 3,231 records break down like this:
| License category (as listed) | Active licenses |
|---|---|
| General building contractor, Type A, both residential and commercial | 824 |
| General building contractor, Type A, commercial | 566 |
| General building contractor, Type A, residential | 513 |
| General building contractor, Type B | 219 |
| HVAC contractor | 564 |
| Sign contractor | 147 |
| Fire detection contractor | 76 |
| Wrecking contractor, Type B | 75 |
| Fire suppression contractor | 68 |
| Plumbing contractor | 54 |
The license category itself is a segment: a Type A commercial license holder is a commercial builder, and a residential-only license holder builds or remodels homes. At state level, Kentucky's Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction "licenses/certifies plumbers, electricians, boiler contractors," as well as sprinkler and fire alarm contractors, and runs a license search. In Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties, Indiana's state and local rules apply instead.
Housing permits
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey shows the metro authorized 6,111 new housing units in 2025, up 5.9% from 5,771 in 2024. Single-family units dipped from 3,715 to 3,575, while units in buildings of five or more rose 31.4%, from 1,854 to 2,436.
Choosing a Louisville contractor
- Look the firm up in Metro's active contractor list and check that its category fits the job: residential, commercial or both.
- Check the electrician and plumber in the state's license search.
- Ask for permit numbers from two or three recent jobs in the same county, and call those owners.
- Get insurance certificates and lien waivers, and tie payments to completed inspections.
Selling to Louisville contractors
| Size band | Establishments | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 2,589 | The owner |
| 20 to 99 employees | 283 | Owner with an operations, service or purchasing manager |
| 100 or more | 57 | Operations, fleet, safety and preconstruction leaders |
For public and highway work, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's prequalified contractor list (dated 1 October 2026) names about 550 contractors with their work classes, about 290 of them at Kentucky addresses and about 30 in Louisville. It's a ready list for heavy civil sellers. The general method is in our guide to building a prospect list.
Illustrative example. The company, prices and rates are invented; the counts are CBP 2023.
Ohio Falls Upfit (ohiofalls.example) fits out work vans with shelving, ladder racks and power for trade contractors. Its targets are the metro's 449 plumbing and HVAC contractors and 291 electrical contractors: 740 establishments. It assumes 40% run five or more vans, about 296 firms, and that each upfits three vans a year at $6,500, or $19,500 a year. Winning 36 accounts (12%) is $702,000 a year. Knowing which firms are adding service trucks is the slow part; Bebop researches each account and suggests the opening angle.
Where to find names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Louisville Metro open data | Active Contractors (licenses by category), Active Permits and historical permits from the Office of Construction Review |
| Kentucky HBC license search | State-licensed electricians, plumbers, boiler, sprinkler and fire alarm contractors |
| KYTC prequalified contractors list | Contractors prequalified for state highway work, with work classes |
| ABC Indiana/Kentucky | Merit-shop chapter with a Louisville office and a Kentuckiana council |
| One Louisville investor directory | Members of the metro chamber and economic development organization |
For other local industries, see law firms in Louisville and staffing agencies in Louisville.
Next step: build the list with the construction companies industry guide.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Louisville Metro KY - Active Contractors (open data), Louisville Metro Government, Office of Construction Review, accessed 30 October 2026
- Biggest general contractors in Louisville (Louisville Business First list, reposted), Calhoun Construction, reposting Louisville Business First, 30 May 2025
- Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, Commonwealth of Kentucky, accessed 30 October 2026
- Prequalified Contractors List, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 1 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual CBSA data for 2025 (cbsa2512y), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- One Louisville, One Louisville, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Louisville, KY?
The US Census Bureau counted 2,929 construction establishments with paid employees in the Louisville/Jefferson County metro area in 2023, employing 32,877 people. Jefferson County had 1,481 and three southern Indiana counties had 593. Louisville Metro's own active contractor list has 3,231 licenses, including 2,122 general building contractor licenses of Type A or Type B.
Who are the biggest general contractors in Louisville?
Louisville Business First's May 2025 list of the area's biggest general contractors, ranked by 2024 billings from local offices, puts LPX Group first, followed by Calhoun Construction, Buffalo Construction, Messer, Whittenberg, Bosse and Wehr Constructors. The ranking relies partly on figures the firms supplied, and it includes construction companies whether or not they act as general contractors.
Do contractors need a license in Louisville?
Louisville Metro licenses general building contractors (Type A residential, commercial or both, and Type B) and trades such as HVAC, sign, fire detection, fire suppression, plumbing and wrecking contractors, and it publishes the active list as open data. Kentucky's Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction separately licenses electricians, plumbers, boiler contractors, and sprinkler and fire alarm contractors.
How do I check a contractor in Louisville?
Find the company in Louisville Metro's Active Contractors dataset and confirm its license category fits your project. Check electricians and plumbers in the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction license search. Then ask for recent permit numbers, certificates of insurance and references from jobs like yours, and tie payments to passed inspections.