Short answer
The St. Louis metro had 6,259 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 78,704 people with $6.51 billion in annual payroll, according to the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns. St. Louis County has the most (1,983), followed by St. Charles (1,019) and Jefferson (683); the eight Illinois counties have 1,418. Establishments average 12.6 employees, a third more than the national figure. Housing permits fell to 6,066 units in 2025.
- 6,259 construction establishments and 78,704 employees across seven Missouri and eight Illinois counties in 2023.
- Average size of 12.6 employees, against 9.4 nationally; the City of St. Louis averages 23.9.
- Commercial builders (321 establishments) average 21 employees; concrete contractors average 19.
- 126 establishments have 100 or more employees, four of them 1,000 or more.
- Illinois-side primes on state highway work need IDOT prequalification; Missouri recognizes a statewide electrical contractor license in every city and county.
On this page
This report is for owners and developers hiring in the St. Louis area, contractors looking for partners or subcontractors, and B2B sellers whose customers are builders and trades on either side of the river. It covers the Census count by county, trade and size, the rules that apply in Missouri and Illinois, and where to find names.
St. Louis construction in Census data
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area (CBSA 41180):
| Measure | Metro St. Louis, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 6,259 |
| Employees (pay period including March 12) | 78,704 |
| Annual payroll | $6,506,449,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 12.6 |
| Average annual pay | $82,670 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 0.77% (of 814,557) |
Across all states the same dataset averages 9.4 employees per establishment and $76,580 in pay (our calculation from the CBP state file), so St. Louis contractors are about a third larger and pay about $6,100 more.
What CBP counts. Establishments are locations with paid employees, not companies; a contractor with a Fenton office and an O'Fallon yard counts twice. Self-employed contractors with no payroll aren't included. No SEC-registered listed construction company has its business address in the metro, so there are no public revenue figures to rank local contractors by.
Missouri and Illinois, county by county
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| St. Louis County, MO | 1,983 | 35,496 |
| St. Charles County, MO | 1,019 | 9,689 |
| Jefferson County, MO | 683 | 5,014 |
| Madison County, IL | 560 | 7,265 |
| St. Clair County, IL | 433 | 4,185 |
| Franklin County, MO | 424 | 3,389 |
| St. Louis city, MO | 380 | 9,096 |
| Lincoln County, MO | 213 | 1,380 |
| Warren County, MO | 139 | 813 |
| Clinton County, IL | 137 | 1,027 |
| Macoupin County, IL | 109 | 418 |
| Monroe County, IL | 98 | 448 |
| Jersey County, IL | 46 | 325 |
| Bond County, IL | 26 | 130 |
| Calhoun County, IL | 9 | not reported (high-noise figure) |
The seven Missouri counties hold 4,841 establishments (77%) and 64,877 employees. Calhoun County's employee count is published but flagged by the Census Bureau because the noise it adds to protect confidentiality changed the figure by 5% or more.
The city and the county are where the big firms are. The City of St. Louis has only 380 establishments but 9,096 employees, an average of 23.9, and St. Louis County averages 17.9. St. Charles and Jefferson counties, with 1,702 establishments between them, average 9.5 and 7.3: the home builders and trades serving the suburbs.
Size
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 3,808 |
| 5 to 9 | 1,034 |
| 10 to 19 | 686 |
| 20 to 49 | 440 |
| 50 to 99 | 165 |
| 100 to 249 | 94 |
| 250 to 499 | 20 |
| 500 to 999 | 8 |
| 1,000 or more | 4 |
In broader bands: 5,528 establishments (88.3%) have 1 to 19 employees, 605 have 20 to 99 and 126 have 100 or more.
What they build
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Construction of buildings (236) | 1,920 | 15,971 |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 1,083 | 4,318 |
| New single-family home builders (236115) | 335 | 1,827 |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 321 | 6,635 |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 273 | 11,163 |
| Oil and gas pipeline and related structures (237120) | 11 | 2,813 |
| Highway, street and bridge (237310) | 79 | 2,453 |
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 4,066 | 51,570 |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 806 | 11,672 |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 511 | 9,492 |
| Poured concrete foundation and structure (238110) | 212 | 3,938 |
| Site preparation (238910) | 311 | 3,757 |
| Building finishing trades (2383) | 980 | 10,238 |
Commercial builders average 20.7 employees and concrete contractors 18.6, against 16.4 and 11.7 for the same industries nationally (our calculation from the CBP state file). Eleven pipeline and related-structure contractors employ 2,813 people between them.
Fewer housing permits in 2025
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey estimates the metro authorized 6,066 new housing units in 2025, down from 7,017 in 2024. Single-family units fell from 4,653 to 4,142 and units in buildings of five or more from 2,017 to 1,523. That leaves commercial, institutional and public work carrying more of the market for the region's larger contractors.
What applies on each side of the river
| Where | What to check |
|---|---|
| Missouri side | Building and trade licensing is set by the city or county where the job is, so ask that building department what it requires. Missouri offers a statewide electrical contractor license that every city and county must accept in place of its own, though they can still require a business license and permits |
| Illinois side | Roofing contractors need a state license from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR); its October 2026 active license report counted 4,777 licensed roofing contractors statewide. Local building departments handle permits |
| Illinois state highway work | Primes must be prequalified by IDOT, which rates firms in 42 work categories and issues a Certificate of Eligibility; ratings last 16 months from the date of the balance sheet |
| Any company | The Missouri Secretary of State's business search shows whether an entity is in good standing |
How to shortlist and vet a St. Louis contractor
- Match the firm to the job size. For a commercial project, start with the 321 commercial builders and the 126 establishments with 100 or more employees; for a home, the 1,083 remodelers and 335 single-family builders.
- Check the licenses where the job is. Ask for the local license number and confirm it with the city or county; for electrical work, ask whether the contractor holds the Missouri statewide license.
- Confirm the entity in the Secretary of State's search, and for Illinois roofing, the IDFPR license.
- Get insurance certificates and lien waivers in writing, and call one recent client on a similar job.
Selling to St. Louis contractors
| Size band | Establishments | Who usually decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 5,528 | The owner, often also the estimator |
| 20 to 99 employees | 605 | Owner with an operations manager or project manager |
| 100 or more | 126 | Preconstruction, equipment, safety and purchasing leaders |
With larger firms than most metros, St. Louis rewards account-based selling: a list of a few hundred contractors with 20 or more employees, researched one by one, beats a broad sequence. Our guide to finding decision makers covers who sits where at a mid-size contractor.
Illustrative example. The dealer, prices and assumptions are invented; the counts are from CBP 2023.
Riverbend Compact Equipment (riverbendcompact.example) sells skid steers and compact excavators. Its market is the metro's 311 site preparation, 212 concrete and 80 water and sewer contractors: 603 establishments. If half have five or more employees and run their own machines, that's about 301 accounts. If one in ten buys a machine in a year at an average of $85,000, that's 30 units and $2.55 million in sales. The research that decides the call order is which contractors are bidding public work in Madison and St. Clair counties or have large commercial sites underway. Bebop finds contractors that match a description like that and writes a playbook for each one.
Where to find names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| AGC of Missouri Find a Contractor | Building, highway and utility contractors; the association has a St. Louis office |
| IDOT prequalification directories | Firms prequalified to bid Illinois state highway work |
| IDFPR active license report | Monthly report of active Illinois licenses, including roofing contractors |
| Missouri business entity search | Entity status and registered agent |
| Census Building Permits Survey | Housing permits by metro and county |
| Greater St. Louis, Inc. | The economic development group for the 15-county region, seven counties in Missouri and eight in Illinois |
Next step: build the list with the construction companies industry guide, or compare a nearby market in the Chicago construction companies report.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- County Business Patterns methodology (noise flags), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual metro area data 2025 and 2024, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- RSMo 324.925, Political subdivisions to recognize statewide licensure, Missouri Revisor of Statutes, accessed 30 October 2026
- Contractor prequalification, Illinois Department of Transportation, accessed 30 October 2026
- Roofing contractor licensing, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, accessed 30 October 2026
- Active license report, 1 October 2026, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, 1 October 2026
- AGC of Missouri, Associated General Contractors of Missouri, accessed 30 October 2026
- Greater St. Louis, Inc., Greater St. Louis, Inc., accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in St. Louis?
The US Census Bureau counted 6,259 construction establishments with paid employees in the St. Louis metro area in 2023, employing 78,704 people with $6.51 billion in payroll. St. Louis County had 1,983, St. Charles County 1,019 and the eight Illinois counties 1,418. These are locations rather than companies, and self-employed contractors without employees aren't counted.
Where are the largest construction companies in St. Louis?
In St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis. In 2023 the city's 380 construction establishments averaged 23.9 employees each and the county's 1,983 averaged 17.9, against 12.6 for the metro and 9.4 nationally. The metro had 126 establishments with 100 or more employees and four with 1,000 or more. No SEC-listed construction company is headquartered in the metro.
Do contractors need a license in St. Louis?
It depends on the side of the river and the trade. In Missouri, contractor licensing is set by the city or county where the work is, and Missouri also offers a statewide electrical contractor license that local governments must accept. In Illinois, roofing contractors need a state license from IDFPR. Check with the local building department before work starts.
How many new homes were permitted in St. Louis in 2025?
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey estimates 6,066 new housing units were authorized in the St. Louis metro in 2025, down from 7,017 in 2024. That included 4,142 single-family units, down from 4,653, and 1,523 units in buildings with five or more units, down from 2,017.