Short answer
The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro had 13,424 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 166,932 people with $13.70 billion in payroll, according to Census County Business Patterns. The District itself had 506, with 10,303 employees. Fairfax County led with 2,479. Federal agencies obligated $650.7 million for construction contracts performed in the District in fiscal 2025, mostly for commercial and institutional building, so many local contractors are federal contractors too.
- 13,424 construction establishments and 166,932 employees in the DC metro in 2023; 506 establishments and 10,303 employees in the District.
- District establishments average 20.4 employees, the highest of the metro's large jurisdictions; Fairfax County averages 13.3.
- Federal construction obligations in the District were $650.7 million in fiscal 2025 across 514 recipients, led by the Department of Defense ($306.1 million).
- The District issued 16,219 construction permits in 2025, including 4,752 for solar systems and 294 for new buildings.
- NVR (Reston) and Argan (Arlington) are the listed construction companies headquartered in the metro.
On this page
- The DC metro in Census data
- The District and its suburbs
- What the region's contractors do
- Federal work in the District
- What the District is permitting
- Three jurisdictions, three sets of rules
- Public companies headquartered in the metro
- Hiring a contractor in the DC area
- Prospecting DC-area contractors
- Sources for names
- Sources
- Questions people ask
This page is for anyone who needs to find, check or sell to construction companies in the Washington region: building owners and agencies, homeowners in the District and its suburbs, primes looking for subcontractors, and B2B sellers. It draws on Census counts, federal contract data, District permit records and licensing agencies in all three jurisdictions.
The DC metro in Census data
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area (CBSA 47900):
| Measure | DC metro, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Construction establishments | 13,424 |
| Employees | 166,932 |
| Annual payroll | $13,703,404,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 12.4 |
| Average annual pay | $82,090 |
| Share of US construction establishments | 1.65% (of 814,557) |
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 8,727 |
| 5 to 9 | 1,864 |
| 10 to 19 | 1,202 |
| 20 to 49 | 964 |
| 50 to 99 | 396 |
| 100 to 249 | 204 |
| 250 to 499 | 44 |
| 500 to 999 | 15 |
| 1,000 or more | 8 |
In three bands: 11,793 establishments have 1 to 19 employees, 1,360 have 20 to 99 and 271 have 100 or more.
The District and its suburbs
| Jurisdiction | Establishments | Employees | Employees per establishment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County, Virginia | 2,479 | 32,864 | 13.3 |
| Montgomery County, Maryland | 2,293 | 25,681 | 11.2 |
| Prince George's County, Maryland | 1,883 | 33,333 | 17.7 |
| Prince William County, Virginia | 1,441 | 17,707 | 12.3 |
| Loudoun County, Virginia | 949 | 15,010 | 15.8 |
| Frederick County, Maryland | 904 | 8,998 | 10.0 |
| District of Columbia | 506 | 10,303 | 20.4 |
| Spotsylvania County, Virginia | 395 | 2,389 | 6.0 |
The metro's other jurisdictions, including Arlington, Alexandria, Stafford and Charles, hold the remaining 2,574. Prince George's County has more construction jobs than Fairfax with fewer establishments. The District has few contractors but large ones: of its 506 establishments, 274 are building contractors, 199 specialty trades and 33 heavy and civil firms.
What CBP counts. Establishments (locations) with paid employees in the pay period including March 12, 2023, counted where they're located. A contractor headquartered in Bethesda that builds downtown counts in Montgomery County, not the District. Self-employed contractors without payroll aren't counted.
What the region's contractors do
| Type of work (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 8,058 | 110,795 |
| Electrical, plumbing and HVAC (2382) | 2,797 | 52,681 |
| Building finishing (2383) | 2,273 | 20,538 |
| Foundation, structure and exterior (2381) | 1,606 | 20,578 |
| Building construction (236) | 4,815 | 38,221 |
| Residential building (2361) | 3,796 | 19,830 |
| Commercial and institutional building (236220) | 984 | 18,115 |
| Heavy and civil engineering (237) | 551 | 17,916 |
| Highway, street and bridge (2373) | 143 | 6,967 |
| Utility systems (2371) | 258 | 6,817 |
Electrical, plumbing and HVAC contractors employ almost a third of the region's construction workforce, at 18.8 employees per establishment.
Federal work in the District
USAspending.gov records every federal contract obligation by where the work is performed. For contracts classified in construction (NAICS 23) and performed in the District of Columbia in fiscal 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025):
| Measure | FY2025 |
|---|---|
| Construction contract obligations | $650.7 million |
| Recipients named | 514 |
| Recipients with $1 million or more | 116 |
| Commercial and institutional building (236220) | $489.7 million |
| Department of Defense | $306.1 million |
| General Services Administration | $113.4 million |
| Smithsonian Institution | $103.2 million |
The recipients with the largest obligations, as named in the federal data:
| Recipient | FY2025 obligations in DC |
|---|---|
| Clark Construction Group LLC | $73.0 million |
| John C. Grimberg Co., Inc. | $19.0 million |
| Reliance Construction Management Company | $17.7 million |
| Associated Builders, Inc. | $16.9 million |
| Grunley Construction Co., Inc. | $16.2 million |
Obligations are money committed in the year, not work done or revenue, and they net out deobligations: 116 recipients had zero or negative totals. Work performed in Maryland and Virginia isn't included here.
What the District is permitting
The District's Department of Buildings publishes every permit as open data. In 2025 it issued 16,219 construction permits, along with 27,134 supplemental and 4,944 postcard permits. Of the construction permits, 6,276 were for alteration and repair, 4,752 for solar systems, 294 for new buildings and 287 for demolition. Ward 2, which includes downtown, had the most (2,850), followed by Ward 6 (2,618).
Across the metro, the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey counts 17,990 housing units authorized in 2025, down from 21,487 in 2024. The District accounted for 1,591, of which 1,372 were in buildings of five or more units.
Three jurisdictions, three sets of rules
| Where the job is | What to check | Where |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | A DC basic business license; trade licenses issued through the Board of Industrial Trades | DLCP's business license and occupational license lookups |
| Maryland | A Maryland Home Improvement Commission license for residential remodeling and repair; state licenses for electricians, plumbers and HVACR contractors | Maryland Department of Labor license search |
| Virginia | A Board for Contractors license: Class A for single jobs of $150,000 or more (or $1 million a year), Class B for $30,000 to $150,000, Class C for over $1,000 to $30,000 | DPOR license lookup |
Maryland's Home Improvement Guaranty Fund pays homeowners up to $30,000 for losses caused by a licensed contractor, but only for licensed firms. Ask any contractor for its license number in the jurisdiction where your project is.
Public companies headquartered in the metro
| Company | Headquarters | What it does | Revenue, latest fiscal year | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVR (NYSE: NVR) | Reston, Virginia | Homebuilding (Ryan Homes, NVHomes) plus mortgage banking | $10.32 billion consolidated (2025) | About 6,300 full-time |
| Argan (NYSE: AGX) | Arlington, Virginia | Engineering, procurement and construction for power plants, plus industrial and telecom work | $944.6 million (year to 31 Jan 2026) | 1,409 |
Both figures are company-wide from each 10-K. Clark, Grimberg and the other large federal builders above are private and don't publish revenue.
Hiring a contractor in the DC area
- Get the license number for the right jurisdiction and look it up: DLCP for the District, the Maryland Department of Labor, or Virginia's DPOR.
- Check the permit history. District permits are searchable in the open data; suburban counties run their own permit systems.
- Ask about federal or secure-site experience if your building is a government facility, and for references on similar jobs.
- Get insurance certificates and lien waivers, and agree how changes will be priced before work starts.
Prospecting DC-area contractors
| Segment | Size (CBP 2023 or FY2025) | Who to reach |
|---|---|---|
| Federal building primes | 116 recipients with $1 million or more in DC obligations | Project executives, preconstruction and contracts managers |
| Mechanical and electrical trades | 2,797 establishments, 52,681 employees | Owner or operations manager; purchasing at the larger firms |
| Residential builders and remodelers | 3,796 establishments | The owner |
| Large contractors of any type | 271 establishments with 100 or more | Safety, equipment, procurement leaders |
Federal award data is the best timing signal in this market: a firm that just won a GSA or Defense contract in the District is about to buy out subcontracts, staff up and buy site services. Our guide to selling to government covers the agency side.
Illustrative example. The company and its assumptions are invented; the recipient counts are from USAspending.gov.
Anacostia Access (anacostiaaccess.example) sells jobsite badging and worker check-in systems for secure sites. Its first list is the 116 firms with $1 million or more in federal construction obligations in the District in fiscal 2025. If 40% run at least one secure site a year and it wins a quarter of those at $24,000 a site, that's 12 customers and $288,000 a year from the District alone, before the Maryland and Virginia bases. The research is matching each award to the project and its superintendent; Bebop researches each company on a list like this and drafts the first email.
Sources for names
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| USAspending.gov award search | Federal contracts by place of performance, NAICS code, agency and recipient |
| DC building permits, 2025 | Every District permit with type, ward, address and applicant |
| DLCP | DC business license and occupational license lookups |
| Maryland Home Improvement Commission | Licensing rules and the license search for home improvement contractors |
| Virginia DPOR license lookup | Board for Contractors licenses by name or number |
| Washington Building Congress | The region's building industry association |
| DC Chamber of Commerce | The District's business chamber |
Next step: go state by state with the reports on Virginia and Maryland construction companies, or start a list with the construction companies industry guide.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits Survey, annual state and CBSA data for 2024 and 2025, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Spending by category: NAICS 23 contracts, place of performance District of Columbia, FY2025, USAspending.gov (US Department of the Treasury), accessed 30 October 2026
- Building Permits in 2025, Open Data DC (Department of Buildings), accessed 30 October 2026
- Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Government of the District of Columbia, accessed 30 October 2026
- Maryland Home Improvement Commission, Maryland Department of Labor, accessed 30 October 2026
- Code of Virginia 54.1-1100, Definitions (Class A, B and C contractors), Virginia General Assembly, accessed 30 October 2026
- NVR, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 11 February 2026
- Argan, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 26 March 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many construction companies are in Washington, DC?
The District of Columbia had 506 construction establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 10,303 people, according to Census County Business Patterns. The wider Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro had 13,424, led by Fairfax County (2,479) and Montgomery County (2,293). Many contractors working in the District are based in Maryland or Virginia and are counted there.
How much federal construction work is there in DC?
USAspending.gov shows $650.7 million in federal contract obligations for construction performed in the District of Columbia in fiscal 2025, across 514 recipients. The Department of Defense obligated $306.1 million, the General Services Administration $113.4 million and the Smithsonian $103.2 million. Most of it, $489.7 million, was commercial and institutional building construction.
Who are the biggest federal construction contractors in DC?
By federal contract obligations for construction performed in the District in fiscal 2025, the largest recipients named in USAspending.gov were Clark Construction Group ($73.0 million), John C. Grimberg Co. ($19.0 million), Reliance Construction Management ($17.7 million), Associated Builders ($16.9 million) and Grunley Construction ($16.2 million). Obligations aren't revenue, and they cover only federal work in the District.
How do I check a contractor's license in the DC area?
It depends on where the job is. In the District, use the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection's business and occupational license lookups. In Maryland, check home improvement contractors with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission's license search. In Virginia, use the DPOR license lookup for the Board for Contractors. Ask for the license number in your jurisdiction.
What are the largest construction companies headquartered near DC?
Among listed companies, NVR of Reston, Virginia, the builder behind Ryan Homes, reported $10.32 billion in consolidated revenue for 2025, and Argan of Arlington, Virginia, a power plant engineering and construction firm, reported $944.6 million for the year to January 2026. The region's large commercial and federal builders are mostly private and don't publish revenue.