2026 State of Hispanic Construction Report: The 10 Numbers Every Industry Leader Must Know

The 2026 State of Hispanic Construction Report is the most comprehensive dataset on Hispanic participation in U.S. construction ever assembled. It documents 4.2 million workers representing 35.2% of the construction labor force, 95,000 or more Hispanic-owned firms generating $779 billion in revenue, and 500,000 unfilled positions that represent a structural workforce emergency (Source: HCC State of Hispanic Construction Report, 2026).

These are the ten numbers that should reframe every conversation about this industry.

How We Collected This Data

Before presenting the numbers, I want to explain the methodology, because the data is only as useful as the process that produced it.

When I first assembled the preliminary dataset in late 2025, I sat with it for three days before publishing anything. My initial reaction was that some numbers were so large they would not be believed. I ran my own internal checks twice. I asked my research team to independently verify the top five findings before I would put my name on them. What I found through that process was that if anything, the numbers were conservative. The real figures were almost certainly larger. That verification process is part of why I trust this report more than anything else in my 20 years working in this industry.

We compiled data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, the Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners, OSHA fatality records, IRS tax data, and direct surveys of HCC member firms. Where multiple sources conflicted, we used the more conservative estimate. We did not round up to make the story more dramatic. We rounded to the nearest thousand.

Number 1: 4.2 Million Workers

Four point two million Hispanic workers in U.S. construction is not a round number chosen for effect (Source: HCC, 2026). It is the product of ACS data applied to construction industry classifications. For context, that is larger than the entire population of Los Angeles. It is more people than work in the entire U.S. airline, hotel, and restaurant industries combined.

Number 2: 35.2% Workforce Share

One in three workers on every American job site is Hispanic. In Texas, the figure exceeds 50%. In California and Florida, it exceeds 40% (Source: HCC, 2026). This is not a regional story. It is a national one.

Number 3: $245 Billion in Annual Wages

Hispanic construction workers earn and spend $245 billion per year (Source: HCC, 2026). That money circulates through local economies: hardware stores, grocery stores, churches, credit unions. It is not extracted from communities. It stays in them.

Number 4: 95,000 or More Hispanic-Owned Businesses

More than 95,000 construction firms in the United States are Hispanic-owned (Source: HCC, 2026). Most are specialty contractors: concrete, framing, roofing, landscaping, electrical. They concentrate in the trade segments with the lowest barrier to entry and often the highest physical demand.

Number 5: $779 Billion in Annual Revenue

$779 billion is larger than the entire GDP of Poland (Source: World Bank, 2024). It is the annual revenue generated by Hispanic-owned construction businesses in the United States. It is also, almost certainly, an undercount, because self-employment and informal business structures in this community mean many revenues go uncaptured in formal surveys.

Number 6: 500,000 Unfilled Positions

The industry has half a million open jobs it cannot fill (Source: HCC, 2026). This number represents both a crisis and an opportunity. It is a crisis for project owners who need workers. It is an opportunity for workers and firms willing to invest in training and capacity.

Number 7: 87 Cents on the Dollar

Hispanic construction workers earn approximately 87 cents for every dollar earned by their non-Hispanic counterparts in comparable roles (Source: HCC, 2026). The gap is widest in supervision and management, not in craft labor. That tells me the barrier is in advancement, not entry.

Number 8: 27% of Fatalities

Hispanic workers account for 27% of construction fatalities despite representing 35.2% of the workforce (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). The primary driver is not recklessness. It is language barriers in safety training.

Number 9: Fastest-Growing Business Segment

Hispanic-owned construction businesses are forming at a faster rate than any other demographic group in the construction sector (Source: Census Bureau Survey of Business Owners, 2023). The worker-to-owner pathway, moving from laborer to foreman to subcontractor to general contractor, is accelerating as the first generation of Hispanic construction workers who arrived in the 1990s and 2000s reaches its peak entrepreneurial years.

Number 10: $37 Billion in Tax Revenue at Risk

Approximately $37 billion in annual tax revenue from undocumented construction workers is at risk from immigration enforcement (Source: HCC Policy Analysis, 2026; ITEP, 2024). This is the most politically sensitive number in the report, and it is the one I believe most urgently demands policy attention.

What These Numbers Mean for Your Business

If you are a general contractor or project owner, these numbers tell you where your workforce is and where your workforce is going. The workers building your projects are disproportionately Hispanic. The subcontractors you rely on are increasingly Hispanic-owned. The workforce crisis you are navigating cannot be solved without engaging directly with this community.

If you are a policymaker, these numbers tell you that immigration enforcement, wage equity, safety reform, and workforce development are not separate issues. They are facets of a single workforce reality that keeps American construction running.

If you are a Hispanic construction worker or business owner, these numbers are about you. They are the most comprehensive evidence that your contribution is real, large, and essential. We published this report because the story deserved to be told with data.

The Data Gap We Are Still Closing

One thing I want to be direct about: these numbers are almost certainly undercounts.

Informal employment in construction, workers paid in cash or through informal subcontract arrangements, does not appear in payroll surveys. Small businesses with no W-2 employees are underrepresented in the Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners. Workers who move between job sites seasonally are often missed in point-in-time survey windows.

The 4.2 million worker figure is what we can document. The real number is larger. The $779 billion in revenue is what we can trace through formal tax records and business filings. The real number, including informal micro-businesses and self-employed sole proprietors, is closer to $900 billion by HCC's internal estimate.

This matters for a reason that is easy to overlook: undercount leads to underinvestment. Policymakers allocate workforce development funding based on documented workforce size. If the documented size is systematically lower than the actual size, the funding never catches up to the need.

I published the full methodology in the report because I want researchers, journalists, and policymakers to interrogate these numbers, use them, and improve on them. The goal is not to own this data. The goal is to make sure it exists, that people use it, and that the next version is more accurate than this one.