Short answer
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro had 8,453 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 84,067 people with $7.0 billion in annual payroll, according to the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns. Clark County, Washington, has the most (2,066), followed by Clackamas (1,976) and Multnomah (1,961). Every paid contractor on the Oregon side needs a Construction Contractors Board license; the board's open data listed 15,502 active licenses in the metro's five Oregon counties in October 2026.
- 8,453 construction establishments and 84,067 employees across seven counties in Oregon and Washington in 2023.
- Multnomah County has fewer establishments than Clark or Clackamas but the most construction jobs, 26,208.
- New single-family home builders (1,206) and remodelers (1,469) make up nearly a third of the market.
- An Oregon CCB endorsement sets the work a contractor may take: a Level 1 commercial general contractor carries an $80,000 bond and $2 million in insurance.
- Housing permits in the metro fell to 8,318 units in 2025 from 9,453, with apartment units down by almost a third.
On this page
This report covers Portland, Oregon, and its metro area, including Vancouver and Clark County, Washington (not Portland, Maine). It's for homeowners and developers hiring a contractor, general contractors finding subcontractors, and B2B sellers whose customers are Portland-area builders and trades.
Portland-area construction in numbers
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area (CBSA 38900):
| Measure | Metro Portland, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 8,453 |
| Employees (pay period including March 12) | 84,067 |
| Annual payroll | $7,000,540,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 9.9 |
| Average annual pay | $83,273 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 1.04% (of 814,557) |
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 5,474 |
| 5 to 9 | 1,396 |
| 10 to 19 | 784 |
| 20 to 49 | 526 |
| 50 to 99 | 155 |
| 100 to 249 | 86 |
| 250 to 499 | 21 |
| 500 to 999 | 9 |
| 1,000 or more | 2 |
In broader bands: 7,654 establishments (90.5%) have 1 to 19 employees, 681 have 20 to 99 and 118 have 100 or more.
What CBP counts. Establishments are locations with paid employees, not companies; a builder with a Tigard office and a Vancouver yard counts once in each county. Self-employed contractors with no payroll aren't included, which is why the CCB's license count below is much larger. No SEC-registered listed construction company has its business address in the metro.
One river, two rulebooks
| County | State | Establishments | Employees | Employees per establishment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clark | Washington | 2,066 | 20,658 | 10.0 |
| Clackamas | Oregon | 1,976 | 15,130 | 7.7 |
| Multnomah | Oregon | 1,961 | 26,208 | 13.4 |
| Washington | Oregon | 1,826 | 18,831 | 10.3 |
| Yamhill | Oregon | 435 | 2,339 | 5.4 |
| Columbia | Oregon | 145 | 778 | 5.4 |
| Skamania | Washington | 44 | 123 | 2.8 |
A quarter of the metro's establishments (2,110) are on the Washington side. Work in Oregon needs an Oregon CCB license; work in Clark or Skamania County needs a Washington contractor registration with the Department of Labor and Industries, checked through its Verify a Contractor tool. A firm that works on both sides of the Columbia needs both.
Reading an Oregon CCB license
Oregon requires a CCB license for anyone paid to work on improvements to real property, from roofing and painting to handyman work. Applicants complete 16 hours of pre-license training and pass an open-book exam, and the license runs for two years. The endorsement on the license is the useful part:
| Endorsement | Bond | Liability insurance | Active in the 5 Oregon metro counties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential General Contractor | $25,000 | $500,000 per occurrence | 11,129 |
| Residential Specialty Contractor | $20,000 | $300,000 per occurrence | 2,702 |
| Residential Limited Contractor | $15,000 | $100,000 per occurrence | 281 |
| Commercial General Contractor, Level 1 | $80,000 | $2,000,000 aggregate | 418 |
| Commercial General Contractor, Level 2 | $25,000 | $1,000,000 aggregate | 1,707 |
| Commercial Specialty Contractor, Level 1 | $55,000 | $1,000,000 aggregate | 232 |
| Commercial Specialty Contractor, Level 2 | $25,000 | $500,000 per occurrence | 740 |
Counts are from the CCB Active Licenses dataset on Oregon's open data portal (updated 29 October 2026), by the county of the license address; a license can carry more than one endorsement. In all, Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties had 15,502 active licenses, against 6,343 CBP establishments with employees in the same counties. Only 418 hold the top commercial general contractor endorsement, so that endorsement is a quick filter for firms able to take on large commercial jobs.
What Portland's contractors build
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Construction of buildings (236) | 3,228 | 20,359 |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 1,469 | 6,812 |
| New single-family home builders (236115) | 1,206 | 3,833 |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 299 | 6,351 |
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 4,943 | 56,796 |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 785 | 12,098 |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 567 | 11,708 |
| Painting and wall covering (238320) | 622 | 2,967 |
| Roofing (238160) | 307 | 3,563 |
| Drywall and insulation (238310) | 221 | 3,744 |
| Site preparation (238910) | 374 | 3,881 |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 282 | 6,912 |
New single-family builders are 14% of the metro's establishments, the fifth-highest share among the 98 metros with at least 1,500 construction establishments (our calculation from the CBP metro file). They average only 3.2 employees each. Electrical contractors average 20.6 employees and drywall contractors 16.9, the trades where larger crews are the norm.
Fewer permits in 2025
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey estimates the metro authorized 8,318 new housing units in 2025, down from 9,453 in 2024. Single-family units slipped from 6,345 to 6,133, while units in buildings of five or more fell from 2,913 to 1,995. With apartment work down by almost a third, framers, drywall and mechanical contractors who rely on multifamily general contractors have more competition for each job.
How to vet a Portland contractor
- Search the CCB license by number (the most accurate way; contractors must show it in their ads) or by name, and check that the endorsement fits the job: a residential specialty contractor can't run a whole remodel, and commercial work needs a commercial endorsement.
- Check the bond and insurance on file. The CCB's active license data lists the surety, insurer and amounts; call the insurer to confirm the policy is current.
- For Clark County work, check the Washington registration in L&I's Verify a Contractor instead.
- Ask for permits on similar jobs and call two recent clients.
- For public work, ask whether the firm is prequalified with ODOT (prime contractors on state highway jobs need it, and it lasts two years) and whether it has filed the separate public works bond Oregon requires on prevailing wage jobs.
Selling to Portland contractors
| Size band | Establishments | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 7,654 | The owner, who is often the CCB responsible managing individual |
| 20 to 99 employees | 681 | Owner with a project manager, estimator or office manager |
| 100 or more | 118 | Preconstruction, operations, safety and procurement leaders |
The CCB file is the best starting list in the metro: every record has an endorsement, county, bond and insurance, so you can pick Level 1 commercial generals in Washington County or residential generals in Clackamas. Our guide to building a prospect list shows how to clean and prioritize a list like this.
Illustrative example. The firm, its fee and its assumptions are invented; the counts are from CBP 2023.
Willamette Ledger (willametteledger.example) does bookkeeping and job costing for residential builders. Its market is the metro's 1,206 new single-family builders and 1,469 remodelers, 2,675 establishments. If 30% have five or more employees and enough jobs running to need job costing, that's about 800 firms. Winning 4% gives 32 clients; at $1,500 a month each, that's $576,000 a year. The research that matters is which builders have permits in progress and which just added a Commercial Level 2 endorsement. Bebop finds builders that match a description like that and writes a playbook for each.
Where to find names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| CCB license search | Any Oregon contractor by license number, name or phone; records update every six hours |
| CCB Active Licenses (Oregon open data) | Every active license as a download, with endorsement, county and bond |
| FIR contractor list | About 420 contractors and architects in Portland's Field Issuance Remodel program (updated March 2026), which is closed to new members |
| ODOT prequalified contractor list | 413 firms prequalified to bid state highway work (28 October 2026), with work classes |
| L&I Verify a Contractor | Registration, bond and insurance for Washington contractors in Clark and Skamania counties |
| AGC Oregon-Columbia Chapter | Commercial contractors, with a member search |
| Home Building Association of Greater Portland | More than 1,400 builders, remodelers, subcontractors and suppliers since 1941 |
| Greater Portland Inc | The regional economic development partnership |
Next step: compare the Washington side's rules in the Seattle construction companies report, or build your 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
- How to get a license, Oregon Construction Contractors Board, accessed 30 October 2026
- Licensing (bonds, insurance and the public works bond), Oregon Construction Contractors Board, accessed 30 October 2026
- CCB license search, Oregon Construction Contractors Board, accessed 30 October 2026
- CCB Active Licenses, Oregon Construction Contractors Board via data.oregon.gov, updated 29 October 2026, accessed 30 October 2026
- Field Issuance Remodel (FIR) program, City of Portland Permitting and Development, accessed 30 October 2026
- Alphabetical listing of prequalified contractors, Oregon Department of Transportation, updated 28 October 2026
- Bid and award information, Oregon Department of Transportation, accessed 30 October 2026
- Home Building Association of Greater Portland, HBA Greater Portland, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Portland, Oregon?
The US Census Bureau counted 8,453 construction establishments with paid employees in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area in 2023, employing 84,067 people. The Oregon Construction Contractors Board lists far more active licenses, 15,502 in the metro's five Oregon counties in October 2026, because its file includes owner-operators with no employees and firms with more than one location.
How do I check a contractor's license in Oregon?
Search the Construction Contractors Board's online license search by business name or CCB number. Records update every six hours. The board's active license data on Oregon's open data portal also shows each license's endorsement, bond and insurance. Make sure the endorsement fits your project, then confirm the insurance with the insurer directly.
What's the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 commercial contractors in Oregon?
Both may do commercial work, but Level 1 carries more security. A Commercial General Contractor Level 1 needs an $80,000 bond and $2,000,000 in aggregate liability insurance; Level 2 needs a $25,000 bond and $1,000,000. In October 2026, 418 active licenses in the Portland area's Oregon counties held the Level 1 general endorsement and 1,707 held Level 2.
Do Vancouver, Washington, contractors need an Oregon license?
Only to work in Oregon. Washington contractors register with the state Department of Labor and Industries, which you can check with its Verify a Contractor tool. A contractor based in Clark County that takes jobs in Portland also needs an Oregon Construction Contractors Board license, and an Oregon firm working in Vancouver needs a Washington registration.
Which Portland-area county has the most construction companies?
Clark County, Washington, had the most construction establishments in 2023, 2,066, followed by Clackamas (1,976), Multnomah (1,961) and Washington County, Oregon (1,826). Multnomah had the most construction employees, 26,208, because its firms are larger on average at 13.4 employees each.