Short answer
The Tucson, AZ metro, which is Pima County, had 1,974 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 24,969 people with $1.67 billion in annual payroll, according to Census County Business Patterns. Plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors are 17.5% of them, against 13.7% nationally. Nearly all paid construction work in Arizona needs a Registrar of Contractors license, and the City of Tucson issued 10,621 permits valued at $1.17 billion in 2025.
- 1,974 construction establishments and 24,969 employees in metro Tucson in 2023, 12.7% of Arizona's construction establishments.
- Average pay is $66,706, about $9,700 less than in metro Phoenix.
- Commercial and institutional builders average 39.9 employees, more than twice the US average of 16.4.
- Housing permits fell 11.6% in 2025 to 4,658 units, with single-family down 13.8%.
- The City of Tucson issued 101 new commercial building permits worth $211.8 million in 2025.
On this page
This report is for anyone who needs construction companies in the Tucson area: homeowners and businesses hiring a contractor, builders looking for trade partners, job seekers, and suppliers and B2B sellers covering Southern Arizona.
Tucson construction in Census data
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Tucson, AZ Metro Area (CBSA 46060). The metro is a single county, Pima County, so there is no county split.
| Measure | Metro Tucson, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 1,974 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 24,969 |
| Annual payroll | $1,665,592,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 12.6 |
| Average annual pay | $66,706 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 0.24% (of 814,557) |
Arizona had 15,551 construction establishments and 208,755 construction employees, so Tucson holds 12.7% of the state's establishments and 12.0% of its construction jobs. Pay is the clearest difference from Phoenix: $66,706 on average against $76,363 in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro in the same data. These are counts of locations with payroll: a company with several sites counts more than once, and owner-operators with no staff aren't included.
Size
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 1,140 |
| 5 to 9 | 348 |
| 10 to 19 | 224 |
| 20 to 49 | 174 |
| 50 to 99 | 59 |
| 100 to 249 | 20 |
| 250 to 499 | 8 |
| 500 to 999 | Not published |
| 1,000 or more | Not published |
The Census Bureau withholds the two largest cells. The 100-or-more band is the total less the smaller bands, 29 establishments, which leaves one with 500 or more employees. In three bands: 1,712 (86.7%) have 1 to 19 employees, 233 (11.8%) have 20 to 99 and 29 (1.5%) have 100 or more.
A mechanical-trades market
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Share in Tucson | Share in US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 1,345 | 68.1% | 64.0% |
| Electrical, plumbing and HVAC (2382) | 578 | 29.3% | 24.9% |
| Plumbing, heating and air conditioning (238220) | 346 | 17.5% | 13.7% |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 217 | 11.0% | 10.2% |
| Roofing (238160) | 86 | 4.4% | 3.1% |
| Drywall and insulation (238310) | 65 | 3.3% | 2.5% |
| Residential remodelers (236118) | 326 | 16.5% | 16.6% |
| Commercial and institutional builders (236220) | 95 | 4.8% | 4.8% |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 73 | 3.7% | 4.7% |
| Site preparation (238910) | 78 | 4.0% | 5.1% |
US shares are calculated from the CBP 2023 state files summed across all states. The building-equipment trades (electrical, plumbing and HVAC) employ 6,817 people, 27.3% of Tucson's construction workforce. The 95 commercial and institutional builders employ 3,788, an average of 39.9; the Census Bureau marks that employee count as moderate noise (changed by 2% to 5% for confidentiality). Tucson has proportionally fewer heavy civil and site preparation firms than the national mix.
What the City of Tucson permitted in 2025
Tucson's Planning and Development Services publishes an annual permit issuance summary. For calendar 2025, inside city limits:
| Permit work class | Permits | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial new building | 101 | $211,758,416 |
| Commercial addition or alteration | 879 | $201,563,278 |
| Commercial trade | 616 | $333,558,738 |
| Residential model permits (standard plans for production homes) | 557 | $148,824,367 |
| Residential new dwelling | 128 | $26,650,475 |
| Residential addition or alteration | 795 | $23,374,883 |
| Residential solar | 907 | $10,533,601 |
| All permit types | 10,621 | $1,166,595,368 |
Commercial trade permits (mechanical, electrical and plumbing work in commercial buildings) carried more valuation than new commercial buildings did. The city also publishes weekly residential and commercial permit activity reports listing each permit with its contractor, the most direct local lead list there is.
Across the metro, the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey shows 4,658 new housing units authorized in 2025, down from 5,268 in 2024: single-family units fell from 4,168 to 3,592 and units in buildings of five or more rose slightly, from 996 to 1,018.
Arizona licenses: what to check in Tucson
Arizona law makes it unlawful to engage in contracting, bid, or respond to a request for proposals for construction services without "a contractor's license in good standing," unless an exemption applies (A.R.S. 32-1151). The same section makes pulling a permit or employing someone on a construction project prima facie evidence that a contract exists, so a firm that pulls permits is treated as contracting. The Phoenix construction companies report covers the license classes and the small-job exemption in detail.
Checks for a Tucson job:
- Search the Registrar of Contractors for the firm and confirm the license is active, the class fits the job (residential, commercial or both) and the name matches your contract.
- Look up the property in Property Research Online, the city's tool for permit and property records by address or parcel, or ask Pima County for permits outside city limits.
- Check the weekly permit reports for the contractor's recent jobs in Tucson.
- Get insurance certificates and lien waivers with each payment.
Prospecting Tucson contractors
| Size band | Establishments | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 19 employees | 1,712 | The owner, often also the license qualifier |
| 20 to 99 employees | 233 | Owner with an operations or service manager |
| 100 or more | 29 | Operations, purchasing, safety and preconstruction leaders |
Seasons matter more in Tucson than in most markets. Air conditioning contractors are busiest in the summer heat, so winter and spring are when owners have time to look at equipment lines, software and financing. For finding the owner and the service manager, see how to find decision makers.
Illustrative example. The distributor, spend and share are invented; the counts are CBP 2023.
Catalina Comfort Supply (catalinasupply.example) distributes residential and light-commercial HVAC equipment. Its targets are the metro's 346 plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors. It assumes 60% do enough system replacements to buy equipment from a distributor, about 208 firms, spending an average of $250,000 a year. That's a $52 million market; a 5% share is $2.6 million a year. Learning which contractors are growing and which are tied to a competing brand is the slow part; Bebop researches each one and suggests the angle to open with.
Where to find names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| ROC contractor search | Licensed Arizona contractors by name, license number and class |
| Tucson permit activity reports | Weekly lists of residential and commercial permits issued, with contractors |
| Tucson Property Research Online | Permit and property records by address or parcel |
| Southern Arizona Home Builders Association directory | Home builders, remodelers and industry members |
| The Chamber of Southern Arizona directory | Investors in the regional chamber and economic development organization formed by the merger of the Tucson Metro Chamber and Sun Corridor Inc. |
No SEC-registered listed construction company has its business address in the Tucson metro. For the state picture, see construction companies in Arizona.
Next step: build the list with the construction companies industry guide.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Permit issuance summary, 01/01/2025 to 12/31/2025, City of Tucson Planning and Development Services, accessed 30 October 2026
- Permit activity (weekly reports), City of Tucson Planning and Development Services, accessed 30 October 2026
- A.R.S. 32-1151, Engaging in contracting without license prohibited, Arizona State Legislature, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual CBSA data for 2025 (cbsa2512y), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, SAHBA, accessed 30 October 2026
- The Chamber of Southern Arizona, The Chamber of Southern Arizona, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Tucson?
The US Census Bureau counted 1,974 construction establishments with paid employees in the Tucson metro area, which is Pima County, in 2023. They employed 24,969 people with $1.67 billion in payroll. The count is of locations, not companies, and it leaves out self-employed contractors with no employees, so the number of businesses offering construction work is higher.
Do I need a licensed contractor in Tucson?
For nearly all paid construction work, yes. Arizona law makes it unlawful to contract, bid or respond to a request for proposals for construction services without a Registrar of Contractors license in good standing, unless an exemption applies. Pulling a permit is treated as evidence of contracting. Search the contractor in the ROC's contractor search and check the license class fits your job.
How many building permits does Tucson issue?
The City of Tucson issued 10,621 permits valued at $1.17 billion in 2025, according to its annual permit issuance summary. That included 101 new commercial building permits ($211.8 million), 879 commercial additions and alterations ($201.6 million), 557 residential model permits for production homes ($148.8 million) and 128 other new dwellings. Pima County issues permits outside city limits.
What kind of construction companies are most common in Tucson?
Specialty trade contractors make up 68.1% of Tucson's 1,974 construction establishments. The largest single group is plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors, with 346 establishments (17.5%, against 13.7% nationally), followed by residential remodelers (326) and electrical contractors (217). There are 95 commercial and institutional builders, averaging 39.9 employees each.