A new study from Construction Coverage has identified the locations with the most women in the construction sector.
Construction has long been a male-dominated field. According to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, only 11.5% of payroll employees in the construction industry are women. However, a promising shift is underway. In recent years, the Department of Labor’s Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant program has allocated millions of dollars to bolster women’s participation in industries like construction. And with the construction industry facing a massive worker shortage—estimated to exceed half a million workers—recruiting women into construction roles has become not just a priority, but a necessity for sustaining growth and meeting demand.
Female Construction Employment Over Time
The share of women in construction has increased steadily over the past several years
The share of women in construction has steadily increased over the past several years, marking progress in diversifying the industry. While women remain underrepresented in the workforce, the data reveals a gradual yet consistent upward trend in female employment within the construction sector.
Prior to 2016, women comprised approximately 9% of the construction workforce. This figure held relatively steady for over a decade, fluctuating slightly between 8.9% and 9.5% from 2003 to 2015. However, since 2016, the share of female employees in construction has climbed nearly every year, reaching 11.1% in 2022 and continuing to rise to 11.5% by 2023. This growth reflects both industry efforts to address workforce shortages and initiatives aimed at increasing diversity, such as targeted training programs and grants.
Geographic Differences in Female Employment in the Construction Industry
Alaska has the highest share of women working in the construction sector
While the construction industry remains male-dominated nationally, the underrepresentation of women in construction is less pronounced in certain parts of the country. This variation highlights regional differences in workforce dynamics, compensation levels, and diversity efforts within the industry.
Alaska and Hawaii lead the nation in female construction employment, with women making up 13.8% and 13.4% of the industry’s workforce, respectively. These states likely benefit from the relatively high wages offered in the construction sector, which can be an attractive factor for women entering the field. States in the Pacific Northwest, such as Washington (12.7%) and Oregon (12.5%), and parts of the South Atlantic, including Florida (13.3%) and Maryland (12.4%), also report female representation above the national average of 11.5%.
Similar trends can be observed at the metropolitan level. Metros like Jacksonville, FL (17.4%), Orlando, FL (16.1%), and New Orleans, LA (14.4%) rank among the top metros for female construction employment. At the opposite end of the spectrum, several locations in Texas, California, and the Northeast report concentrations of women in construction below 9.5%. In McAllen, TX, just 6.7% of construction industry workers are female—the lowest of any major U.S. metropolitan area.
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