Short answer
North Carolina had 28,390 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 249,407 people with $17.09 billion in annual payroll, according to Census County Business Patterns: 3.49% of the US total and 7th among states. Wake County has 3,294 and Mecklenburg 3,110. A general contractor needs a state license for projects worth $40,000 or more, and electrical and plumbing, heating and fire sprinkler contractors are licensed by their own boards.
- 28,390 construction establishments and 249,407 employees in North Carolina in 2023, 7th among states by establishments.
- Builders of single-family homes for clients and on owned lots (NAICS 236115) are 12.7% of establishments, against 7.4% nationally.
- Housing permits fell 9.2% in 2025 to 85,916 units, still the fourth-highest total of any state.
- Cardinal Infrastructure Group of Raleigh, which listed on Nasdaq in December 2025, reported $456.0 million of 2025 revenue.
- NCDOT requires prequalification for highway construction and lists prequalified firms in its Directory of Firms.
On this page
- North Carolina construction by the numbers
- The ten largest counties
- A state of homebuilders
- Firm size
- Permits fell in 2025, from a high level
- Large projects already announced
- Public construction companies in North Carolina
- Licensing: three boards and NCDOT
- A statewide prospecting plan
- Sources for names
- Sources
- Questions people ask
This report is for anyone sizing up construction companies across North Carolina: owners and developers hiring outside their own metro, firms looking for subcontractors, partners or acquisitions, job seekers, and B2B sellers planning a statewide territory. For one metro in detail, see the Charlotte construction companies report.
North Carolina construction by the numbers
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), State of North Carolina:
| Measure | North Carolina, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 28,390 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 249,407 |
| Annual payroll | $17,092,719,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 8.8 |
| Average annual pay | $68,533 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 3.49% (of 814,557) |
| Rank among states by establishments | 7th |
Average pay is about $8,000 below the roughly $76,580 for all US construction establishments in the same data (state totals summed). CBP counts establishments (locations) with paid employees, not companies, and it leaves out self-employed contractors.
The ten largest counties
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Wake | 3,294 | 37,260 |
| Mecklenburg | 3,110 | 36,856 |
| Guilford | 1,299 | 13,814 |
| Union | 985 | 10,163 |
| Buncombe | 964 | 6,366 |
| New Hanover | 963 | 7,573 |
| Forsyth | 912 | 8,019 |
| Johnston | 847 | 5,390 |
| Cabarrus | 693 | 6,123 |
| Durham | 690 | 6,695 |
Wake (Raleigh) has edged past Mecklenburg (Charlotte) for the most construction establishments in the state. Together the two hold 22.6% of establishments and 29.7% of employees. Buncombe (Asheville) and New Hanover (Wilmington) each have more than 960 establishments but average 6.6 and 7.9 employees, so their contractors are mostly small firms.
A state of homebuilders
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees | Share in NC | Share in US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family homes for clients and on owned lots (236115) | 3,592 | 12,103 | 12.7% | 7.4% |
| For-sale homebuilders (236117) | 707 | 6,953 | 2.5% | 1.5% |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 3,646 | 13,644 | 12.8% | 16.6% |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 1,141 | 16,447 | 4.0% | 4.8% |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 1,542 | 39,662 | 5.4% | 4.7% |
| Highway, street and bridge (2373) | 325 | 11,870 | 1.1% | 1.1% |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 3,089 | 31,006 | 10.9% | 10.2% |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 3,973 | 45,037 | 14.0% | 13.7% |
| Site preparation (238910) | 1,581 | 18,809 | 5.6% | 5.1% |
US shares are calculated from the CBP 2023 state files summed across all states. The 3,592 establishments in NAICS 236115, which build single-family homes under contract for owners or on land they hold, are North Carolina's signature: their share is 70% above the national one and the third-highest of any state, after Oregon and Montana. Power and communication line contractors (237130) number 365 and employ 17,703, an average of 48.5; the Census Bureau marks that employee count as moderate noise (changed by 2% to 5% for confidentiality).
Firm size
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 18,702 |
| 5 to 9 | 4,493 |
| 10 to 19 | 2,691 |
| 20 to 49 | 1,712 |
| 50 to 99 | 504 |
| 100 to 249 | 231 |
| 250 to 499 | 38 |
| 500 to 999 | 15 |
| 1,000 or more | 4 |
That's 25,886 establishments (91.2%) with 1 to 19 employees, 2,216 (7.8%) with 20 to 99 and 288 (1.0%) with 100 or more.
Permits fell in 2025, from a high level
| Units authorized (Census Building Permits Survey) | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family | 69,973 | 65,153 |
| 2 to 4 units | 1,025 | 1,444 |
| 5 or more units | 23,597 | 19,319 |
| Total | 94,595 | 85,916 |
Total units fell 9.2%, single-family 6.9% and apartment units 18.1%. Even so, North Carolina's 85,916 units were the fourth-highest total of any state in 2025, behind Texas, Florida and California, and 65,153 single-family permits is a large base of work for its contract builders and trades.
Large projects already announced
Industrial and data center work doesn't show up in housing permits. Two projects announced by the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina in June 2025 show the scale coming:
| Project | Location | Announced investment |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Web Services cloud computing and AI campus | Richmond County | $10 billion, at least 500 jobs |
| JetZero aircraft production facility | Piedmont Triad International Airport, Greensboro | $4.7 billion, more than 14,500 jobs planned |
Projects of this size are built by national general contractors, but they pull in local site preparation, electrical, concrete and mechanical subcontractors for years.
Public construction companies in North Carolina
| Company | Headquarters | Revenue, 2025 | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNL) | Raleigh | $456.0 million, up 44.7% | Site development and infrastructure services in the southeastern US for residential, commercial and DOT and municipal customers |
Cardinal completed its initial public offering on December 11, 2025, at $21.00 a share, and its 10-K attributes 2025 growth to North Carolina's residential market and to commercial and DOT and municipal work. It is the only SEC-registered listed construction company with a North Carolina business address in our data file.
Licensing: three boards and NCDOT
| Who | Rule or scope | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| General contractors | License required when the total project cost is valued at $40,000 or more (G.S. 87-1) | NC Licensing Board for General Contractors license search, by name, number or county |
| Electrical contractors | Licensed under G.S. Chapter 87, Article 4 | NC State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors |
| Plumbing, heating, fuel gas piping and fire sprinkler contractors | Licensed by their own state board | State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors |
| Highway construction for NCDOT | "All firms interested in working on highway construction projects are required to become prequalified"; Division-Let contracts are those under $5 million | NCDOT Directory of Firms |
The general contractor board's consumer advice also notes that it can investigate complaints about unlicensed contractors on projects of $40,000 or more. Small Business Enterprise contracts at NCDOT don't require prequalification but do require SBE certification.
A statewide prospecting plan
- Divide the state into five regions: the Triangle (Wake, Durham, Johnston), Charlotte and its North Carolina suburbs, the Triad (Guilford, Forsyth), the coast (New Hanover and east) and the mountains (Buncombe and west).
- Pull the license lists for your segment. The general contractor board sells mailing lists of active licensees, and the trade boards' searches cover electrical and mechanical firms.
- Use NCDOT's directory for heavy civil and paving. It lists each prequalified firm's qualifications.
- Match the contact to the size. Owners decide at the 25,886 establishments under 20 employees; at the 288 largest, go to operations, purchasing, safety and preconstruction. Our guide to finding decision makers covers the rest.
Illustrative example. The agency, premiums and rates are invented; the counts are CBP 2023.
Tar Heel Builder Risk (tarheelrisk.example) is an insurance agency writing builder's risk and general liability for homebuilders. Its targets are the state's 3,592 contract builders and 707 for-sale builders, 4,299 establishments. It assumes 30% start five or more homes a year, about 1,290 builders, each worth $4,800 a year in commission. Winning 6%, 77 accounts, is $369,600 a year. Ranking 1,290 small builders by how many homes they're starting is the slow part; Bebop researches each builder and drafts the first message.
Sources for names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| NCLBGC license search | Licensed general contractors, searchable by license name, number or county |
| NC electrical board search | Licensed electrical contractors |
| NC plumbing, heating and fire sprinkler board search | Licensed plumbing, HVAC, fuel gas and fire sprinkler contractors |
| NCDOT prequalification | How firms prequalify, with a link to the Directory of Firms |
| Economic Development Partnership of NC | Announced industrial projects and the state's economic development activity report |
For other North Carolina industries, see companies in North Carolina and the Raleigh construction companies report.
Next step: turn these segments into a list with the construction companies industry guide.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 23 March 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual state data for 2025 (st2512y), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual state data for 2024 (st2412y), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Consumer FAQs, NC Licensing Board for General Contractors, accessed 30 October 2026
- Prequalification, North Carolina Department of Transportation, accessed 30 October 2026
- AWS announces $10 billion investment in Richmond County, Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, 4 June 2025
- JetZero selects Piedmont Triad International Airport, Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, 12 June 2025
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in North Carolina?
The US Census Bureau counted 28,390 construction establishments with paid employees in North Carolina in 2023, employing 249,407 people with $17.09 billion in payroll. That's 3.49% of the US total and 7th among states. The count is of locations, not companies, and it leaves out self-employed contractors with no employees, so more businesses than this offer construction work.
What is the dollar limit for a general contractor license in NC?
North Carolina requires a general contractor to be licensed by the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors when the total project cost is valued at $40,000 or more, under G.S. 87-1. Below that, no state general contractor license is required, but electrical, plumbing, heating and fire sprinkler work still needs a contractor licensed by the relevant state board.
Which county in North Carolina has the most construction companies?
Wake County, with 3,294 construction establishments and 37,260 employees in 2023, according to Census County Business Patterns. Mecklenburg County was close behind with 3,110 establishments and 36,856 employees. Guilford (1,299), Union (985), Buncombe (964) and New Hanover (963) followed. Wake and Mecklenburg together hold 22.6% of the state's construction establishments.
How do I find contractors that work for NCDOT?
NCDOT requires firms that want to work on highway construction projects to prequalify, and once prequalified, their information and qualifications are listed in the department's Directory of Firms, linked from its prequalification page. Division-Let contracts are those under $5 million. Small Business Enterprise contracts don't need prequalification but require SBE certification.
Are there public construction companies in North Carolina?
Cardinal Infrastructure Group of Raleigh, which provides site development and infrastructure services in the Southeast, listed on Nasdaq after its initial public offering on December 11, 2025. Its 10-K reports 2025 revenue of $456.0 million, up 44.7% from 2024. It's the only SEC-registered listed construction company with a North Carolina business address in our data.