Women in Construction Reach Highest Share in Two Decades

In 2024, the number of women employed in the construction industry rose to around 1.34 million. Women now represent 11.2% of the construction workforce, the highest share in the past 20 years.  This rise aligns with the growing presence of white-collar jobs in the industry. As the industry continues to face a persistent shortage of skilled labor, expanding the workforce remains one of the top priorities of the industry. Increasing the participation of women into the construction labor force represents a potential opportunity for future growth. This article examines the role of women in construction using labor force statistics from the Current Population Survey (CPS).

The Great Recession brought a sharp contraction in the number of women working in construction, dropping by nearly 30% to 807,000 by 2010. From 2010 to 2017, the number gradually rose to around 970,000 but remained below the peak of pre-recession levels. In recent years, however, growth has accelerated, with the number of women in construction reaching a record of 1.34 million in 2024.

Currently,  women make up 11.2% of the construction workforce. According to the CPS data, most women in the construction industry are employed in occupations such as office and administrative support, management, and business and financial operations. Sales and office occupations employed the highest number of women within the construction industry, with women making up 65.7% of these workers.  This includes 437,000 women in office and administrative support, and 39,000 in sales and related occupations.. Additionally, about 521,000 women held roles in management, professional, and related occupations, though they only took up 18% of all management positions.

While construction and maintenance occupations account for the largest number of employees in construction and are where additional workers are most needed, women comprise only 4% (307,000) of such occupations. Additional steps should be taken to attract female workers into these high-demand occupations. Other occupation groups within the industry such as production, transportation, and material moving occupations, and service occupations employed only around 22,000 female workers.