Short answer
The Raleigh-Cary metro had 4,424 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 44,159 people with $3.27 billion in annual payroll, according to Census County Business Patterns. Wake County has 3,294 of them. In 2025 the City of Raleigh issued 1,334 permits for new homes and 114 for new nonresidential buildings. Check a general contractor's license and classification with the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors.
- 4,424 construction establishments and 44,159 employees in the Raleigh-Cary metro in 2023: 15.6% of North Carolina's establishments.
- Wake County holds 3,294; Johnston has 847 and Franklin 283.
- 151 for-sale homebuilders and 469 single-family general contractors, plus 190 site preparation firms averaging 16 employees.
- Lennar Carolinas held 183 of the city's 1,334 new residential permits in 2025, the most of any contractor.
- Cardinal Infrastructure Group, a Raleigh site and utility contractor, reported $456.0 million in 2025 revenue in its first 10-K.
On this page
This report is for homeowners and developers choosing a contractor in the Triangle, builders looking for subcontractors, job seekers, and B2B sellers whose customers are builders and trades. It covers the Census count, the City of Raleigh's permit records, the one public construction company based here, North Carolina's license classes and a prospecting plan.
Raleigh construction by the numbers
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area (CBSA 39580):
| Measure | Metro Raleigh, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 4,424 |
| Employees | 44,159 |
| Annual payroll | $3,271,743,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 10.0 |
| Average annual pay | $74,090 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 0.54% (of 814,557) |
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Wake County, North Carolina | 3,294 | 37,260 |
| Johnston County, North Carolina | 847 | 5,390 |
| Franklin County, North Carolina | 283 | 1,509 |
North Carolina had 28,390 construction establishments and 249,407 employees in the same release, so the metro is 15.6% of the state's contractors and 17.7% of its construction jobs. Wake County contractors average 11.3 employees; Johnston's average 6.4.
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 2,840 |
| 5 to 9 | 652 |
| 10 to 19 | 450 |
| 20 to 49 | 299 |
| 50 to 99 | 124 |
| 100 to 249 | 50 |
| 250 to 499 | 6 |
| 500 or more | Not published |
That's 3,942 establishments (89.1%) with 1 to 19 employees, 423 with 20 to 99 and 59 with 100 or more. The Census Bureau doesn't publish the two largest classes for the metro; by subtraction, 3 establishments have 500 or more.
A homebuilding market
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Building construction (236) | 1,464 | 10,128 |
| New single-family general contractors (236115) | 469 | 1,970 |
| For-sale homebuilders (236117) | 151 | 1,730 |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 606 | 2,656 |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 204 | 3,148 |
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 2,727 | 29,204 |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 566 | 8,070 |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 425 | 5,075 |
| Building finishing (2383) | 688 | 4,770 |
| Site preparation (238910) | 190 | 3,061 |
| Poured concrete (238110) | 140 | 2,215 |
| Roofing (238160) | 164 | 1,571 |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 233 | 4,827 |
| Utility systems (2371) | 140 | 2,747 |
Residential builders of every kind are 1,249 establishments, 28% of the market. Site preparation firms average 16.1 employees and water and sewer line contractors (76 establishments) 20.9, because the land clearing, grading and utilities that come before each subdivision need large crews and fleets.
What CBP counts: establishments (locations) with paid employees, not companies; a builder with offices in Cary and Wake Forest counts twice. It excludes self-employed contractors with no payroll, and employment is for the pay period including March 12, 2023.
Who pulls Raleigh's permits
The City of Raleigh publishes its building permits as open data with the contractor's company name and license number. In calendar 2025 the city issued:
| Permit type | Permits, 2025 |
|---|---|
| New residential | 1,334 |
| Residential alterations and additions | 2,542 |
| New nonresidential | 114 |
| Nonresidential alterations | 1,429 |
The contractors named on the most new residential permits in 2025:
| Contractor (as named on the permit) | New residential permits |
|---|---|
| Lennar Carolinas, LLC | 183 |
| DRB Group - North Carolina, LLC | 89 |
| Stanley Martin Homes, LLC | 80 |
| KB Home Raleigh-Durham Inc. | 62 |
| Taylor Morrison of Carolina | 57 |
| D.R. Horton, Inc. T/A Emerald Homes | 57 |
| NVR, Inc., T/A Ryan Homes and/or NVHomes | 52 |
| Concept 8, LLC | 34 |
| Pulte Home Company LLC | 32 |
| Habitat for Humanity of Wake County | 30 |
Going by the names, most are regional units of national homebuilders. For new nonresidential buildings the counts are small: Clancy and Theys Construction, Choate Construction and Summit Contracting Group were named on 6 permits each. A permit count measures activity in the city limits, not company size, and 108 new residential permits had no contractor name recorded.
The public company based here
| Company | Headquarters | Revenue, 2025 | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Infrastructure Group (Nasdaq: CDNL) | Raleigh | $456.0 million | Wet utilities, grading, site clearing, erosion control, drilling and blasting, paving |
Its 10-K for 2025 reports revenue up 44.7% from $315.2 million in 2024 and about 1,480 employees at year end, all in North Carolina, running more than 208 crews. Founded in Raleigh in 2013, it does the site and utility work that comes before vertical construction.
North Carolina license classes
The North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC) licenses general contractors by classification, and its public license search lets you filter by each one:
- Building and Residential.
- Highway, including a grading and excavating subclass.
- Public Utilities, with subclasses for water lines, sewer lines, sewage disposal, water purification, fuel distribution, communications and electrical work ahead of the point of delivery.
- Specialty (S), one trade each: asbestos, boring and tunneling, concrete, insulation, interior construction, marine, masonry, metal erection, railroad, roofing, sidewalk curb and gutter, signs and billboards, swimming pools and wind turbines.
- Unclassified.
The classification tells you what a firm is licensed to contract for: a specialty roofing licensee isn't a general builder. Electrical contractors are licensed by the State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors, and plumbing, heating and fire sprinkler contractors by their own state board. NCDOT separately prequalifies firms to bid its highway work and publishes a directory of prequalified firms.
How to vet a Raleigh contractor
- Search the NCLBGC license search by company or qualifier name and confirm the classification fits your job and the license is active.
- Check the trade boards for the electrical, plumbing and HVAC subcontractors.
- Look up the firm's permits in the City of Raleigh's permit data, or Wake County's, to see the jobs it has filed and their stated cost.
- Get certificates of insurance and three references from similar jobs in the last two years.
- Get a written contract with scope, schedule, payment draws and how change orders are priced.
Selling to Raleigh construction companies
| Size band | Establishments | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 3,942 | The owner, often the license qualifier |
| 20 to 99 employees | 423 | Owner with an operations manager, purchasing lead or controller |
| 100 or more | 59 | Division presidents, purchasing and construction managers at builders; equipment and safety leaders at site contractors |
National builders buy through regional divisions with their own purchasing managers; the permit list tells you which divisions are most active in the city. Local site, utility and concrete contractors buy equipment, fuel, materials and staffing in volume. Our guide on how to find decision makers covers who to contact once you know the company.
Illustrative example. The company and its assumptions are invented; the counts are from CBP 2023 and City of Raleigh permit data.
Triangle Truss (triangletruss.example) makes roof and floor trusses. Its targets are the 151 for-sale homebuilders and 469 single-family general contractors in the metro: 620 establishments. It sets aside the large national builders, which buy through regional contracts, and assumes 40% of the rest build at least ten homes a year, about 230 prospects. At $65,000 a year in trusses per account, winning 10% (23 accounts) is $1.5 million in annual sales. The useful research is which builders filed new permits in the last quarter. Bebop finds builders that match a description like this and researches each one before you call.
Where to find names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| City of Raleigh building permits | Every building permit with contractor name, license number, work class and cost |
| NCLBGC license search | General contractors by classification, name, qualifier and location |
| NC electrical contractor license search | Licensed electrical contractors |
| NC Board of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors | Licensing for plumbing, HVAC and fire sprinkler contractors |
| NCDOT prequalification | How highway contractors are prequalified, with a directory of firms |
| HBA of Raleigh-Wake County | Home builders, remodelers and suppliers |
| Wake County Economic Development | Regional growth, major employers and company announcements |
For the coastal market to the south, see Charleston construction companies; for the state as a whole, see North Carolina construction companies.
Next step: build your list with the construction companies industry guide.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits, City of Raleigh Open Data, accessed 30 October 2026
- Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 23 March 2026
- Verify License Search, North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors, accessed 30 October 2026
- Prequalification, North Carolina Department of Transportation, accessed 30 October 2026
- State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors, State of North Carolina, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Raleigh?
The US Census Bureau counted 4,424 construction establishments with paid employees in the Raleigh-Cary metro area in 2023, employing 44,159 people: 3,294 in Wake County, 847 in Johnston and 283 in Franklin. These are locations with payroll, not companies, and self-employed contractors with no employees aren't counted, so the number of active businesses is higher.
Who builds the most new homes in Raleigh?
In the City of Raleigh's 2025 permit data, Lennar Carolinas was named on 183 of the 1,334 new residential permits, followed by DRB Group (89), Stanley Martin Homes (80), KB Home Raleigh-Durham (62), and Taylor Morrison of Carolina and D.R. Horton's Emerald Homes (57 each). The data covers permits issued by the city, not the surrounding towns or county.
How do I check a general contractor's license in North Carolina?
Use the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors' public license search. You can search by company, qualifier name, license number or classification, such as Building, Residential, Highway, Public Utilities or a specialty like roofing. Confirm the license is active and that its classification covers your job, and ask the firm whether its license limits the value of projects it can take. Check electrical and plumbing contractors with their own state boards.
What are the largest construction companies in Raleigh?
The one listed construction company headquartered in Raleigh is Cardinal Infrastructure Group, a site and utility contractor that reported $456.0 million in revenue for 2025 and about 1,480 employees in North Carolina. Most of the large homebuilders active in the city are regional units of national companies based elsewhere, and private local contractors don't publish revenue.
What kinds of contractors are most common in Raleigh?
Specialty trade contractors make up 2,727 of the metro's 4,424 construction establishments, led by building finishing (688), plumbing and HVAC (566) and electrical (425) contractors. Residential builders number 1,249, including 469 single-family general contractors, 151 for-sale homebuilders and 606 remodelers. There are also 190 site preparation contractors, which average 16 employees each.