Short answer
The Memphis metro had 1,709 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 22,998 people with $1.67 billion in annual payroll, according to Census County Business Patterns. Shelby County, Tennessee, has 1,121 of them and DeSoto County, Mississippi, 254. Contractors are licensed by Tennessee's Board for Licensing Contractors, the Mississippi State Board of Contractors or the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, depending on where the work is.
- 1,709 construction establishments and 22,998 employees across nine counties in three states in 2023; average pay $72,753.
- 13.5 employees per establishment, against 9.4 nationally; 49% have fewer than five employees, against 66% nationally.
- Plumbing and HVAC contractors average 15.2 employees and employ 5,311 people, the metro's largest trade.
- Memphis and Shelby County issued 104 commercial new-building permits worth $892.8 million in 2025.
- Builders were authorized to start 3,298 housing units in 2025, down from 4,240; 3,082 were single-family homes.
On this page
This report is for property owners and businesses hiring a contractor in the Memphis area, contractors looking for subcontractors or partners, people weighing a job or acquisition in the Mid-South, and B2B sellers with Mid-South contractors as customers. It walks through the Census count, the licensing board for each of the three states, the county's permit file and a prospecting plan.
Memphis construction in numbers
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area (CBSA 32820):
| Measure | Memphis metro, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 1,709 |
| Employees | 22,998 |
| Annual payroll | $1,673,175,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 13.5 |
| Average annual pay | $72,753 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 0.21% (of 814,557) |
Average pay is about $3,800 below the national construction figure of $76,580 (our calculation from the CBP state files).
Fewer small shops, bigger trades
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 840 |
| 5 to 9 | 304 |
| 10 to 19 | 269 |
| 20 to 49 | 194 |
| 50 to 99 | 72 |
| 100 to 249 | 27 |
| 250 to 499 | Not published |
| 500 to 999 | Not published |
| 1,000 or more | Not published |
Only 49% of Memphis construction establishments have fewer than five employees, against 66% nationally, and 266 have 20 to 99. In broader bands, 1,413 have 1 to 19 employees and 30 have 100 or more; the Census Bureau doesn't split the top three classes, and the published cells leave three establishments with 250 or more. A market with a thick middle of 20- to 99-person firms is a good one for sellers whose product needs an office manager or a purchasing lead to buy it.
Nine counties, three states
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Shelby County, Tennessee | 1,121 | 17,067 |
| DeSoto County, Mississippi | 254 | 2,689 |
| Fayette County, Tennessee | 112 | 775 |
| Tipton County, Tennessee | 101 | Not reported (high-noise figure) |
| Marshall County, Mississippi | 53 | 604 |
| Crittenden County, Arkansas | 31 | 311 |
| Tate County, Mississippi | 26 | 136 |
| Tunica County, Mississippi | 6 | Not reported (high-noise figure) |
The Census Bureau publishes employee totals for Tipton and Tunica counties but flags them as high-noise: the noise it adds to protect confidentiality changed them by 5% or more, so they're left out here. The ninth county, Benton County, Mississippi, has five establishments. Shelby County holds 66% of the metro's establishments and 74% of its construction jobs; DeSoto County, across the Mississippi line, is the main suburban market.
What Memphis contractors do
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees | Per establishment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 349 | 5,311 | 15.2 |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 218 | 3,469 | 15.9 |
| Foundation, structure and exterior (2381) | 204 | 3,279 | 16.1 |
| Building finishing (2383) | 218 | 2,200 | 10.1 |
| Other building equipment, including elevators (238290) | 28 | 872 | 31.1 |
| Site preparation (238910) | 71 | 1,156 | 16.3 |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 122 | 2,077 | 17.0 |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 194 | 1,113 | 5.7 |
| New single-family general contractors (236115) | 75 | 233 | 3.1 |
| Highway, street and bridge (2373) | 27 | 788 | 29.2 |
| Power and communication lines (237130) | 15 | 496 | 33.1 |
Specialty trades employ 17,214 people, three quarters of the metro's construction workforce, and Memphis trade firms are larger than the national averages: plumbing and HVAC contractors average 15.2 employees against 10.9 nationally, and electrical contractors 15.9 against 12.2. Industrial and multifamily building contractors are counted too, but their employee totals are flagged high-noise and aren't reported.
Three state licensing boards
| Where the job is | Licensing body | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Tennessee (Shelby, Fayette, Tipton) | Board for Licensing Contractors, Department of Commerce and Insurance | Contractor license and classification; limited licensed electricians and plumbers are licensed separately |
| Mississippi (DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, Tunica, Benton) | Mississippi State Board of Contractors | Commercial, residential and roofing licenses; commercial applicants show a CPA-reviewed net worth of at least $50,000 (major classification) and liability cover of $300,000 per occurrence |
| Arkansas (Crittenden) | Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board | Find a Licensed Contractor search |
A contractor based in Southaven bidding a job in Memphis is subject to Tennessee's licensing rules, and the reverse. Tennessee's search tool is a dashboard of contractor and qualifying agent data that can be filtered and downloaded, which makes it a source for lists as well as checks. Ask for the license number for the state the job is in, look it up, and confirm the classification covers your work.
What's being permitted
The Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development publishes its building permits as open data, with sub-type, construction type, valuation, description and address. For permits issued in 2025:
| Permits issued in 2025 | Permits | Stated valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial new buildings | 104 | $892.8 million |
| Commercial alterations | 973 | $702.9 million |
| Commercial additions | 35 | $93.6 million |
| Residential new homes | 906 | $266.9 million |
| Residential alterations | 1,548 | $66.2 million |
The total, including accessory structures, was 4,796 permits and $2.16 billion, 3,483 of them at Memphis addresses. The largest new commercial permits were a $118.9 million second phase of a new museum, two St. Jude campus projects (a $117.6 million clinical office building and a $101.3 million parking garage), a $82.5 million high school and $75.0 million of work at the Liberty Bowl stadium. Across the metro, the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey counted 3,298 housing units authorized in 2025, down from 4,240 in 2024; 3,082 were single-family homes and only 195 were in buildings of five or more units.
No SEC-registered listed construction company is headquartered in the Memphis metro.
Selling to Memphis contractors
| Size band | Establishments | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 1,413 | The owner |
| 20 to 99 employees | 266 | Owner with an office manager, estimator or purchasing lead |
| 100 or more | 30 | Operations, purchasing, safety and preconstruction leaders |
Institutional projects (a hospital campus, a school, the airport, a museum) led the largest permits in 2025, and commercial builders on jobs like these hire the metro's large mechanical and electrical firms. Our guide on finding decision makers shows how to reach estimators and purchasing leads.
Illustrative example. Wolf River Controls and its numbers are invented; the counts are from CBP 2023 and the county's permit data.
Wolf River Controls (wolfrivercontrols.example) distributes building automation and HVAC controls. Its targets are plumbing and HVAC contractors (349 establishments), electrical contractors (218) and commercial and institutional builders (122): 689 accounts. If 30% work on commercial projects big enough to need controls, that's about 207; winning 15% (31) at $70,000 a year each is $2.2 million. The research that matters is which mechanical contractor is on each of the 104 new commercial buildings permitted last year. From a short description, Bebop finds contractors like these and writes a playbook for each.
Sources for names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors | Licensing rules and the contractor verification dashboard |
| Mississippi State Board of Contractors | Commercial, residential and roofing license search |
| Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board | Find a Licensed Contractor |
| Memphis open data hub | DPD building permits with valuation and description |
| Greater Memphis Chamber | 1,500+ member businesses and regional economic development |
For the region's freight and distribution firms, see the Memphis trucking companies report; for the wider economy, companies in Memphis.
Next step: use the construction companies industry guide to plan outreach across the three states.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual CBSA data 2024 and 2025, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Board for Licensing Contractors, Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, accessed 30 October 2026
- Verify a license: questions and answers, Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, accessed 30 October 2026
- Licenses, Mississippi State Board of Contractors, accessed 30 October 2026
- Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, accessed 30 October 2026
- DPD Building Permits, Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development, via the Memphis open data hub, accessed 30 October 2026
- Greater Memphis Chamber, Greater Memphis Chamber, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Memphis?
The US Census Bureau counted 1,709 construction establishments with paid employees in the Memphis metro area in 2023, employing 22,998 people. Shelby County, Tennessee, has 1,121, DeSoto County, Mississippi, 254 and Fayette County, Tennessee, 112. These are locations with payroll rather than companies, and self-employed contractors with no employees aren't counted.
How do I check a contractor's license in Memphis?
It depends on the state where the job is. In Shelby, Fayette and Tipton counties, check Tennessee's Board for Licensing Contractors verification tool. In DeSoto and the other Mississippi counties, use the Mississippi State Board of Contractors search, and in Crittenden County, Arkansas, the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board's Find a Licensed Contractor. Confirm the classification covers your job.
Where can I find building permits in Memphis?
The Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development publishes building permits on the Memphis open data hub, with valuation, description and address. In 2025 it issued 4,796 permits worth $2.16 billion, including 104 new commercial buildings worth $892.8 million and 906 new homes. Cities such as Germantown and Collierville may also keep their own records, so check the local building department.
What are the biggest construction projects in Memphis?
Among permits issued by Memphis and Shelby County in 2025, the largest new commercial projects were a $118.9 million second phase of a new museum, a $117.6 million clinical office building and a $101.3 million parking garage on the St. Jude campus, a $82.5 million high school and $75.0 million of work at the Liberty Bowl stadium, according to the county's permit data.