Short answer
The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro had 14,143 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 128,484 people with $10.83 billion in annual payroll, according to the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns. Bucks County has the most (2,601), then Montgomery (2,461) and Philadelphia (1,658). Inside the city, contractors need a Philadelphia contractor license unless they only do home improvement on one- and two-family homes. Toll Brothers, in Fort Washington, is the largest public construction company based in the metro.
- 14,143 construction establishments and 128,484 employees across 11 counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland in 2023.
- Residential remodelers are the largest group, 3,149 establishments, more than a fifth of the market.
- A Philadelphia contractor license needs $500,000 liability insurance and supervisors with OSHA 30 training in the last five years.
- In 2025 the city issued 2,371 commercial building permits naming 1,085 different contractors.
- Toll Brothers reported $10.97 billion in revenue for the year to October 2025.
On this page
- Philadelphia-area construction by the numbers
- Eleven counties, four states
- What they build
- The Philadelphia contractor license
- Who pulled permits in 2025
- The public company headquartered here
- How to vet a contractor in Philadelphia
- Selling to Philadelphia-area contractors
- Where to find names
- Sources
- Questions people ask
This report is for owners and developers hiring in greater Philadelphia, contractors looking for subcontractors or partners, and B2B sellers whose customers are builders and trades in the region. It covers the Census count across all four states, the city's license rules, the city's permit records and where to find names.
Philadelphia-area construction by the numbers
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area (CBSA 37980):
| Measure | Metro Philadelphia, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 14,143 |
| Employees (pay period including March 12) | 128,484 |
| Annual payroll | $10,834,458,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 9.1 |
| Average annual pay | $84,325 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 1.74% (of 814,557) |
Average pay ranks 16th among the 135 metros with at least 1,000 construction establishments, about $7,700 above the average across all states (our calculations from the CBP files).
Eleven counties, four states
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Bucks, PA | 2,601 | 17,591 |
| Montgomery, PA | 2,461 | 29,279 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 1,658 | 12,067 |
| Chester, PA | 1,537 | 13,385 |
| Delaware, PA | 1,447 | 12,502 |
| New Castle, DE | 1,378 | 15,732 |
| Burlington, NJ | 1,008 | 7,369 |
| Camden, NJ | 1,006 | 9,313 |
| Gloucester, NJ | 709 | 8,594 |
| Cecil, MD | 195 | 1,246 |
| Salem, NJ | 143 | 1,406 |
The five Pennsylvania counties hold 9,704 establishments (69%), the four New Jersey counties 2,866, New Castle County 1,378 and Cecil County 195. Montgomery County is the employment center, with 29,279 construction employees and 11.9 per establishment; Bucks has more establishments but they average 6.8. The city itself averages 7.3. For the other states' rules, see the reports on New Jersey and Delaware.
What CBP counts. Establishments are locations with paid employees, not companies; a contractor with offices in King of Prussia and Cherry Hill counts once in each county. Self-employed contractors with no payroll aren't included.
What they build
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Construction of buildings (236) | 4,750 | 26,682 |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 3,149 | 10,159 |
| New single-family home builders (236115) | 643 | 3,642 |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 701 | 9,948 |
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 8,920 | 86,279 |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 2,118 | 25,980 |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 1,496 | 16,420 |
| Painting and wall covering (238320) | 711 | 3,549 |
| Masonry (238140) | 458 | 2,822 |
| Roofing (238160) | 422 | 3,374 |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 473 | 15,523 |
| Highway, street and bridge (237310) | 153 | 7,371 |
| Power and communication lines (237130) | 125 | 4,913 |
Remodelers are 22% of all establishments but average 3.2 employees. Highway and bridge contractors are few and large, averaging 48 employees.
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 9,462 |
| 5 to 9 | 2,112 |
| 10 to 19 | 1,287 |
| 20 to 49 | 840 |
| 50 to 99 | 284 |
| 100 to 249 | 117 |
| 250 to 499 | 32 |
| 500 to 999 | 5 |
| 1,000 or more | 4 |
In broader bands: 12,861 establishments (90.9%) have 1 to 19 employees, 1,124 have 20 to 99 and 158 have 100 or more.
The Philadelphia contractor license
| Who | What the city requires |
|---|---|
| Businesses doing construction, demolition or repair in the city | A contractor license from the Department of Licenses and Inspections: $126 a year; general liability of $500,000 per occurrence, auto liability of $300,000 and workers' compensation; current on city taxes |
| Each construction supervisor | An approved OSHA 30 course completed within five years, and assignment to only one company |
| Home improvement contractors working only on existing one- and two-family homes | No city license; they apply for permits with their Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor registration (not for electrical, plumbing or fire suppression work) |
| Electrical, plumbing, fire suppression, demolition and excavation contractors | Separate city trade licenses |
The state registration comes from the Pennsylvania Attorney General. The city notes that, while the state system was down, it processed home improvement registrations under temporary rules that expired on 30 June 2026, so check that a contractor's state certificate is current.
Who pulled permits in 2025
The city publishes every permit through its open data program, with the contractor named on each. Permits issued in calendar 2025:
| Permit type | Permits | Different contractor names |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbing | 13,589 | 388 |
| Electrical | 8,830 | 611 |
| Mechanical | 4,906 | 846 |
| Residential building | 4,486 | 1,323 |
| Building (commercial) | 2,371 | 1,085 |
| Fire suppression | 1,946 | 58 |
| Site and utility | 650 | 126 |
Across all permit types, 40,894 permits named a contractor and about 3,630 different names appear (some firms appear under more than one spelling). Plumbing is the most concentrated trade: fewer than 400 contractors pulled 13,589 permits. Across the metro, the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey estimates 12,900 new housing units were authorized in 2025, down from 14,214 in 2024.
The public company headquartered here
| Company | Headquarters | Main business | Revenue, latest fiscal year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toll Brothers | Fort Washington, PA | Luxury homebuilding | $10.97 billion (year to 31 Oct 2025) |
The figure is company-wide, from its 10-K. Large private builders don't publish revenue and aren't ranked here.
How to vet a contractor in Philadelphia
- Search L&I's Find a Licensed Contractor for the license and any licensing violations, and check the city's suspended and revoked contractors list.
- For home improvement, search the Attorney General's Home Improvement Contractor database by name or number.
- Check permits on past jobs with L&I's contractor permit lookup, or by address in the city's Atlas map.
- Get the certificate of insurance and confirm the $500,000 general liability is current with the insurer.
Selling to Philadelphia-area contractors
| Size band | Establishments | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 12,861 | The owner |
| 20 to 99 employees | 1,124 | Owner with a project manager, estimator or office manager |
| 100 or more | 158 | Preconstruction, safety, procurement and equipment leaders |
The permit file is the strongest local signal: you can see which contractors pull the most commercial permits, which trades work for which general contractors, and who just started a job. For writing the first message, see the cold email templates.
Illustrative example. The company, prices and assumptions are invented; the counts are from the city's 2025 permit data.
Schuylkill Safety Training (schuylkillsafety.example) runs OSHA 30 courses. Its targets are the 1,085 contractors named on commercial building permits in 2025, each of which needs licensed supervisors with current OSHA 30 training. If they average two supervisors, that's about 2,170 people, and with a five-year window roughly a fifth, 434, need the course in a given year. Winning a quarter of those seats, 109, at $600 each is $65,400 a year, before trade contractors. Bebop can build the list of those contractors with the safety or operations lead at each.
Where to find names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Find a licensed contractor (L&I) | Every actively licensed Philadelphia contractor and its licensing violations, plus permit lookup and the suspended list |
| Philadelphia open data program | Building permits with contractor name, type, scope and address |
| ABC Eastern Pennsylvania | Merit shop chapter since 1962 covering 17 counties, with more than 500 member companies |
| PennDOT business partner registration | Required to bid PennDOT work, separate from prequalification |
| Census Building Permits Survey | Housing permits by metro and county |
Next step: turn these sources into a list with the construction companies industry guide.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual metro area data 2025 and 2024, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Get a contractor license, City of Philadelphia, accessed 30 October 2026
- Submit as a PA Home Improvement Contractor to get construction permits, City of Philadelphia, accessed 30 October 2026
- Find a licensed contractor and contractor information, City of Philadelphia, accessed 30 October 2026
- Permits (Licenses and Inspections open data, via the city's Carto API), City of Philadelphia, queried 30 October 2026
- Toll Brothers, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 19 December 2025
- ABC Eastern Pennsylvania, Associated Builders and Contractors, Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Philadelphia?
The US Census Bureau counted 14,143 construction establishments with paid employees in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area in 2023, employing 128,484 people. Philadelphia County itself had 1,658, fewer than suburban Bucks (2,601) or Montgomery (2,461). These are locations rather than companies, and self-employed contractors without employees aren't counted.
Do contractors need a license in Philadelphia?
Yes, for construction, demolition or repair in the city, with one exception. Contractors need a Philadelphia contractor license from the Department of Licenses and Inspections, with $500,000 general liability insurance and supervisors who completed OSHA 30 training within five years. Contractors doing only home improvement on one- and two-family homes can use their Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor registration instead.
How do I check if a contractor is licensed in Philadelphia?
Use the Department of Licenses and Inspections' Find a Licensed Contractor tool, which lists every actively licensed contractor and any licensing violations, and check the city's list of suspended and revoked contractors. For home improvement contractors, search the Pennsylvania Attorney General's registration database. The city's contractor permit lookup shows whether permits were pulled.
How much does a Philadelphia contractor license cost?
The City of Philadelphia contractor license costs $126 and renews every year for $126. A $20 non-refundable application fee is credited toward the first year. Renewing more than 60 days late adds 1.5% of the fee for each month since expiry, and renewal requires current city taxes, proof of insurance and supervisor OSHA 30 records.
What is the largest construction company in the Philadelphia area?
Among public companies, Toll Brothers of Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, is the largest construction company headquartered in the metro, with $10.97 billion in revenue for the year ended 31 October 2025, according to its 10-K. Private contractors don't publish revenue. The city's permit data shows which firms pull the most permits in Philadelphia itself.