Construction industry increasingly reliant on immigrant workers, report shows

The construction industry in the United States is increasingly reliant on foreign-born workers, a group that’s come under increased threat this year from the Trump administration. More than 2.8 million construction workers were foreign born in 2023, making up almost 27 percent of the construction workforce nationwide, up from 2 million or 25 percent in 2013.  

That’s according to a study published this month by Construction Coverage, a group of industry experts who conduct research and write articles on construction trends. Many of those immigrant construction workers are concentrated in just a few states including in New York, where more than 37 percent of construction workers are foreign born. 

New York is fifth in the percentage of its construction workforce made up of immigrant workers behind Florida, New Jersey, Texas and California.

In the New York City metropolitan area almost 49 percent of construction workers are immigrants, the study found. That’s nearly 290,000 foreign-born construction workers in the city’s metropolitan area as of 2023, according to the study, an area that includes Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey.  

The study was authored by Jonathan Jones, a senior researcher at Construction Coverage. He said in a statement that the reliance on immigrant construction workers was a regional trend given that over 50 percent of construction workers in Bridgeport, Connecticut are immigrants as are 49 percent of construction workers in Trenton, New Jersey. 

But Jones added that  the data highlights the “tale of two economies” in New York State, given the difference in the construction workforce in the area immediately surrounding the city vs upstate.

"The picture changes dramatically just a few hours north [of the city],” he said. "In Upstate markets, the reliance on immigrant workers drops precipitously—to just [8.4 percent] in Albany, [7.6 percent] in Rochester, and [6.1 percent] in Buffalo—suggesting that while foreign-born employees are the backbone of development in the city and surrounding suburbs, construction employment demographics look completely different across the rest of the state.”  

In general, the report found, high concentrations of immigrant construction workers are clustered in cities across the country, with Miami having the highest percentage of immigrant construction workers at over 66 percent.

Most of the foreign-born workers in construction across the country are laborers – over 750,000 – carpenters – over 360,000 –  or painters – over 250,000 – the study found. And immigrants make up a majority of the national workforce in drywall and ceiling installers, painters as well as paperhangers and roofers. 

HFreeman@thechiefleader.com