Short answer
The Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metro had 6,208 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 69,506 people with $6.02 billion in annual payroll, according to Census County Business Patterns. Sacramento County had 3,390 and Placer County 1,623. Average pay was $86,667, above the California average of $84,200. Most firms are small (5,482 have under 20 employees), and California requires a CSLB license for any job of $1,000 or more.
- 6,208 construction establishments and 69,506 employees in the Sacramento metro in 2023, 7.2% of California's establishments.
- Average construction pay of $86,667 is higher than in the Los Angeles ($82,888) or San Diego ($80,737) metros.
- 122 establishments have 100 or more employees, and the size classes imply none has 1,000 or more.
- Single-family homes were 72% of the 10,689 housing units permitted across the metro in 2025.
- The state's Department of General Services lists its construction bids on a public solicitations page and Cal eProcure.
On this page
This page is for anyone choosing, researching or selling to construction companies in the Sacramento region: owners hiring a builder in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado or Yolo County, contractors looking for partners, job seekers and B2B sellers. Figures come from the Census Bureau, the state's licensing and contracting agencies and their own websites.
Sacramento's construction market
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area (CBSA 40900):
| Measure | Sacramento metro, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 6,208 |
| Employees | 69,506 |
| Annual payroll | $6,023,865,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 11.2 |
| Average annual pay | $86,667 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 0.76% (of 814,557) |
| County | Establishments | Employees | Employees per establishment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento County, California | 3,390 | 42,107 | 12.4 |
| Placer County, California | 1,623 | 17,386 | 10.7 |
| El Dorado County, California | 771 | 5,033 | 6.5 |
| Yolo County, California | 424 | 4,980 | 11.7 |
How Sacramento compares in California
| Area (CBP 2023) | Establishments | Employees | Average pay | Share of California establishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 86,763 | 870,789 | $84,200 | 100% |
| Los Angeles metro | 25,486 | 251,370 | $82,888 | 29.4% |
| San Diego metro | 8,325 | 91,254 | $80,737 | 9.6% |
| Sacramento metro | 6,208 | 69,506 | $86,667 | 7.2% |
| Bakersfield metro | 1,287 | 14,570 | $68,400 | 1.5% |
Sacramento has 7.2% of the state's construction establishments and 8.0% of its construction jobs, and it pays its construction workforce more on average than the Los Angeles and San Diego metros. More detail on the southern markets is in the Los Angeles and San Diego reports.
Size: a market without giants
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 3,939 |
| 5 to 9 | 944 |
| 10 to 19 | 599 |
| 20 to 49 | 443 |
| 50 to 99 | 161 |
| 100 to 249 | 91 |
| 250 to 499 | 28 |
| 500 to 999 | 3 |
| 1,000 or more | 0 (derived) |
5,482 establishments (88.3%) have 1 to 19 employees, 604 (9.7%) have 20 to 99 and 122 (2.0%) have 100 or more. The Census Bureau doesn't publish the 1,000-or-more cell, but the published classes already add up to the total, so the derived count is zero. No SEC-listed construction company has its headquarters in the metro, so the largest contractors here are private firms or regional offices of companies based elsewhere.
About the count. CBP counts establishments (locations) with paid employees in the pay period including March 12, 2023. One company with offices in Rancho Cordova and Roseville counts twice. Self-employed contractors with no employees aren't counted.
What they build
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 3,927 | 45,415 |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 807 | 10,783 |
| Electrical (238210) | 671 | 9,645 |
| Foundation, structure and exterior (2381) | 797 | 10,736 |
| Roofing (238160) | 269 | 2,055 |
| Building construction (236) | 2,003 | 17,111 |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 1,094 | 4,683 |
| New single-family general contractors (236115) | 465 | 3,093 |
| For-sale homebuilders (236117) | 68 | 1,579 |
| Commercial and institutional building (236220) | 339 | 6,615 |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 278 | 6,980 |
| Utility systems (2371) | 150 | 4,176 |
| Highway, street and bridge (2373) | 63 | 2,058 |
New-home work is a bigger share here than in coastal California: the 465 new single-family general contractors average 6.7 employees, against 3.9 in the Los Angeles metro, and the Building Permits Survey shows why. Across the metro, 10,689 housing units were authorized in 2025 (11,613 in 2024), and 7,716 of them were single-family homes.
The state as a customer
Sacramento is where the State of California manages its own buildings. The Department of General Services' Real Estate Services Division (RESD) runs state office projects, including a new building at 1215 O Street and a new office building of about 20 stories at 7th/8th and O/P streets. Its public solicitations page listed 17 construction bid opportunities statewide on 30 October 2026, from demolitions and reroofs to fire sprinklers and water systems, including window replacement at a state fleet lot in Sacramento and security upgrades in West Sacramento. Each links to the bid on Cal eProcure, the state's procurement portal.
What a contractor needs for that work: a CSLB license in the right classification and registration with the Department of Industrial Relations as a public works contractor ($400 a year). For state highway work, Caltrans posts current construction projects by district on its Contracting Opportunities Portal.
Hiring a Sacramento contractor
- License. California requires a CSLB license for jobs worth $1,000 or more in labor and materials, jobs needing a permit, and any contractor using employees. Use CSLB's license check, which also covers registered home improvement salespeople.
- Classification. A general building (B) license for projects with two or more unrelated trades; a specialty C license for single-trade work such as roofing or plumbing.
- Bond and insurance. Every license carries a $25,000 bond; ask for the certificate of liability insurance and confirm workers' compensation.
- Deposit. No more than 10% of the price or $1,000, whichever is less, on a home improvement job.
- Local permit history. Ask for permits from recent jobs and check them with the city or county that issued them.
Prospecting Sacramento contractors
| Size band | Establishments | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 5,482 | The owner, who is often the license's qualifying individual |
| 20 to 99 employees | 604 | Owner with an operations manager, safety lead or controller |
| 100 to 999 employees | 122 | Safety, operations, procurement and preconstruction leaders |
Public work is a useful filter. A contractor registered with DIR and bidding DGS or Caltrans projects needs prevailing-wage payroll, safety documentation, bonding and insurance, and it tends to be mid-sized.
Illustrative example. The company and its assumptions are invented; the establishment counts are from CBP 2023.
Delta Safety Training (deltasafety.example) runs OSHA 30 and fall protection courses for contractors. It targets the 726 establishments in the metro with 20 or more employees. If a quarter of them buy outside safety training each year at an average of $6,500, that's about 181 buyers and a $1.18 million market. Winning 30% of them is 54 customers and $351,000 a year. The useful research is which firms just won public work or had a safety incident; Bebop researches each account on a list like this and suggests the angle to open with.
Sources for names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| CSLB license check | Status, classification, bond and workers' compensation for any license |
| CSLB public data portal | Lists of licensees by classification and county |
| DGS RESD construction solicitations | State construction bids, linked to Cal eProcure |
| DIR public works contractor registration | Registration rules and the registered contractor search |
| Caltrans Contracting Opportunities Portal | State highway projects out to bid, by district |
| ABC NorCal | Merit shop contractors in Northern California |
| North State Building Industry Association | Builders, developers, subcontractors and suppliers in the region |
| Greater Sacramento Economic Council | Regional economic development and company announcements |
Next step: build your list with the construction companies industry guide, and see the largest construction companies for the national firms with Sacramento offices.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual CBSA data for 2024 and 2025, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Real Estate Services Division, California Department of General Services, accessed 30 October 2026
- Current Real Estate Services Division solicitations, California Department of General Services, accessed 30 October 2026
- What kind of contractor do I need?, Contractors State License Board, accessed 30 October 2026
- Finding the right contractor, Contractors State License Board, accessed 30 October 2026
- Public works contractor registration, California Department of Industrial Relations, accessed 30 October 2026
- Caltrans Contracting Opportunities Portal, California Department of Transportation, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Sacramento?
Census County Business Patterns counted 6,208 construction establishments with paid employees in the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metro in 2023: 3,390 in Sacramento County, 1,623 in Placer, 771 in El Dorado and 424 in Yolo. They employed 69,506 people. The count is of locations with payroll, not companies, and leaves out self-employed contractors with no employees.
How much do construction workers make in Sacramento?
Construction establishments in the Sacramento metro paid an average of $86,667 per employee in 2023, according to Census County Business Patterns: total annual payroll of $6.02 billion divided by 69,506 employees. That's above the California construction average of $84,200 and the Los Angeles and San Diego metros. It's an average across all jobs, from laborers to managers, not a wage for any one trade.
How do I find state construction projects in Sacramento?
The Department of General Services' Real Estate Services Division lists its current construction solicitations on its website, each linked to Cal eProcure, the state's procurement portal. Caltrans lists highway construction projects on its Contracting Opportunities Portal. To bid, a contractor needs a CSLB license in the right classification and registration with the Department of Industrial Relations as a public works contractor.
Do I need a licensed contractor for a small job in Sacramento?
California requires a CSLB license when a job is worth $1,000 or more in combined labor and materials, needs a building permit, or uses employees. Below that, unlicensed handyman work is allowed only if none of those apply. For any licensed job, check the license online, confirm the bond and workers' compensation, and keep the down payment to 10% or $1,000, whichever is less.