The earlier June post highlighted the rising number and share of Hispanics in the construction industry. Hispanics now account for almost a third of the construction workforce, according to the 2021 Current Population Survey. In this post, we focus on the regional and state-level differences in the racial and ethnic composition of the construction labor force.
The share of Hispanics employed in construction varies considerably by state, ranging from less than 1% in West Virginia, Vermont, and New Hampshire to more than 50% in Texas and California. Hispanics working in the construction industry are more geographically concentrated in the Southern and Western states, where a large number of Hispanics reside. In fact, 52% of the nation’s Hispanic construction workforce is concentrated in three states – Texas (834,000), California (808,000), and Florida (317,000).
Texas also stands out for registering the highest share of Hispanics in the construction labor force (61%). California is next on the list, with Hispanics accounting for 55% of its construction workforce, followed by Arizona where 49% of construction workforce are Hispanics.
In contrast, the construction industry in the Northeast region relies heavily on non-Hispanic White Americans. Non-Hispanic Whites make up more than 95% of the construction workforce in New Hampshire, West Virginia, Vermont, Maine.
African Americans and Asian Americans are underrepresented in the construction industry in most states. African Americans comprise less than 6% of the construction workforce, while their share in the US labor force exceeds 12%. States with the largest share of African Americans working in construction are Maryland (18%), followed by Georgia (15%), and Louisiana (14%). Asian Americans account for less than 2% of the US construction workforce. However, their share is significant in Hawaii, where one out of every three construction workers are Asian Americans.
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Hispanics are the hardest-working individuals that will work. I am in Texas and you will not pass one single construction site without seeing almost 100% Hispanic workers. They came here to make a better life for themselves and their families. The other majority of workers are whites. Look in the vehicles you pass at construction sites and you will see the whites setting in the trucks with the heaters or use conditioning running. It’s a crying shame that we have to distinguish races in any market. We are all brothers and sisters in this world.