How Many Licensed Contractors Are There? State-by-State 2026 Data
Data assembled September 15, 2026. Each row retains its own source date. This is a review date, not a common collection date.
The table contains 1,215,261 selected license and credential units. It combines active-status selections with roster-only and historically bounded source sets. It is not an all-active census, a national total, a count of unique companies, or the size of the full historical archive.
North Carolina is an NC-addressed active general-contractor account floor because ZIP enumeration is incomplete and misses out-of-state-addressed licensees. Rhode Island is a maintained Department of Labor and Training plumbing-license detail count. It is not a statewide general-contractor census.
The Headline Numbers
The reviewed table contains 1,215,261 selected license and credential units across 20 state source sets, drawn from 2,189,841 corresponding source units across all included statuses. This is not the size of the historical archive. California contributes 226,172 active-status units. Minnesota contributes 137,338, followed by Florida at 132,767. Licensing design and source coverage differ, so these are not market-share rankings.
A unit is the identifier selected by the state-specific counter. Some systems license businesses; others also license individual electricians, plumbers, apprentices, or other tradespeople. Louisiana contributes a license/certificate roster without a status field. Roster-only selections must not be presented as independently verified active licenses.
Active License and Credential Units by State, With Roster Exceptions
| State | Selected units | Authority and scope | Source as of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 58,121 | AZ Registrar of Contractors | 2026-09-05 |
| California | 226,172 | Contractors State License Board (CSLB) | 2026-09-05 |
| Colorado | 63,419 | DORA electrical and plumbing boards * | 2026-09-05 |
| Florida | 132,767 | DBPR construction and electrical boards | 2026-08-29 |
| Idaho | 43,897 | Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses * | 2026-09-05 |
| Kentucky | 36,181 | Dept. of Housing, Buildings and Construction * | 2026-09-05 |
| Louisiana | 33,373 | LSLBC license/certificate roster; status not supplied | 2026-09-11 |
| Minnesota | 137,338 | Dept. of Labor and Industry * | 2026-09-13 |
| Mississippi | 13,581 | State Board of Contractors | 2026-08-05 |
| North Carolina | 18,911 | NC-addressed general-contractor account floor; historical, incomplete enumeration ** | 2026-08-08 |
| Nevada | 19,026 | NSCB distinct license numbers; not license/classification rows; active status not independently established here | 2026-09-13 |
| Ohio | 10,504 | Construction Industry Licensing Board, commercial specialty credentials | 2026-09-05 |
| Oklahoma | 41,809 | Construction Industries Board * | 2026-09-12 |
| Oregon | 45,527 | Construction Contractors Board | 2026-09-05 |
| Rhode Island | 1,017 | Dept. of Labor and Training, maintained plumbing-license details only ** | 2026-07-31 |
| Tennessee | 34,517 | Board for Licensing Contractors | 2026-09-05 |
| Texas | 54,388 | TDLR trades, no statewide general-contractor license * | 2026-09-05 |
| Virginia | 90,256 | Board for Contractors | 2026-09-05 |
| Washington | 75,888 | Dept. of Labor and Industries | 2026-09-05 |
| Wisconsin | 78,569 | Dept. of Safety and Professional Services * | 2026-09-12 |
| TOTAL (20 states) | 1,215,261 | Asynchronous endpoints |
* Includes individually licensed tradespeople in addition to or instead of contractor businesses.
** Bounded coverage measure, not a statewide all-trade contractor census.
State-to-state comparisons require caution. Texas has no statewide general-contractor license. Ohio covers commercial specialty credentials. North Carolina is an address-bounded floor. Rhode Island is a plumbing detail set. A smaller row can reflect licensing design rather than a smaller contractor economy.
What the latest record changes can tell you
This September 15 update does not publish a refreshed 30-day movement total. The prior edition’s 19,494 signals are not a current measurement and have been removed from the table and structured data.
For the latest reviewed weekly comparison, read Deal Ledger 011. Its Washington, Wisconsin, and bounded Rhode Island findings use their stated comparison periods. They are not a substitute for a trailing-30-day, all-state measure.
Endpoint comparisons can miss changes that reverse between pulls. One credential can produce several field changes. A removed record does not establish a closure, sale, ownership transfer, or available worker.
Contractors Versus Licensed Tradespeople
A license is not automatically a company or a unique worker. Where source categories distinguish contractor/entity credentials from individual trade credentials, the split is shown below.
| State | All active units | Contractor/entity credentials | Individual trade credentials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho (2026-09-05) | 43,897 | 5,093 | 38,804 |
| Oklahoma (2026-09-12) | 41,809 | 6,054 | 35,755 |
Counting note: The two splits are already included in the selected-unit total. They describe credential categories, not deduplicated companies or people. Idaho retains September 5 evidence; Oklahoma uses its retained September 12 roster with unresolved enumeration completeness.
Counts by Trade: General, Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, Roofing
Trade totals use the same reviewed state endpoints as the main table. A credential can carry several classifications, so the buckets overlap and do not sum to the headline. A zero can mean missing classification coverage, not an absence of workers or businesses.
| Trade | Selected classified units | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General and building | 332,946 | Excludes states with no separable statewide general classification |
| Electrical | 294,599 | Includes individual-license states |
| Plumbing | 120,506 | Texas plumbing is outside the tracked Texas source |
| HVAC and mechanical | 115,886 | Includes refrigeration where separately classified |
| Roofing | 21,932 | Separately classified in seven approved states |
General and Building Contractors: 332,946
General and building records concentrate in states with unified statewide systems, led by California, Florida, and Washington. Texas, Ohio, Colorado, Kentucky, Idaho, and Oklahoma have no comparable statewide general-contractor row in this dataset.
Electrical: 294,599
Electrical is heavily affected by individual licensing in Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, and Oklahoma.
Plumbing: 120,506
Rhode Island contributes 1,017 maintained plumbing details. Texas plumbing remains outside the tracked Texas source.
HVAC and Mechanical: 115,886
This bucket includes HVAC, air-conditioning, refrigeration, and mechanical credentials where the state exposes a comparable classification.
Roofing: 21,932
Roofing is separately classified in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington. Elsewhere it often sits inside a general or building credential.
Louisiana and Mississippi remain outside the five trade buckets. North Carolina is not assigned while enumeration remains incomplete. Rhode Island contributes plumbing details only.
Why These Numbers Differ From Other Published Figures
Published contractor figures can count workers, establishments, modeled businesses, or licenses. This page counts selected state-held license and credential units. One unit does not necessarily equal one business, and roster inclusion does not by itself verify active status.
Retained source files and dated counter artifacts support review of the published counts. Record movement is published only when the comparison endpoints and counting keys have been checked.
Methodology and Sources
Source records. Counts derive from official state licensing records. No survey data or market model is used for the headline total.
Counting unit. State-native licenses, credentials, accounts, or license/certificate-type units, using each counter’s identifier and scope. Nevada is reduced to distinct license numbers. North Carolina and Rhode Island remain bounded subsets. No cross-state company or person deduplication is claimed.
Status selection. Native active-status filters are used where available. Louisiana supplies no status field, and some counters use source rosters without a separate status predicate. The headline therefore reports selected units, not a uniformly verified active-license total.
Refresh cadence. This page is reviewed on Tuesdays when source and release checks pass. A later collection does not replace an accepted endpoint automatically. Nine rows retain September 5 evidence while newer candidate counts await source-boundary review.
Known limitations. North Carolina is a historical NC-addressed general-contractor account floor, dated August 8, with no accepted complete snapshot; enumeration misses out-of-state mailing addresses and other uncovered slices. Rhode Island is only 1,017 maintained plumbing details dated July 31, not its wider trade roster. Mississippi retains August 5 evidence behind a source access challenge. Florida retains August 29 after a later candidate was quarantined. Tennessee retains September 5 after the September 12 source failed. Nevada’s September 13 roster passed review. Oklahoma’s September 12 roster is retained with unresolved enumeration completeness; its separate detail layer remains at August 8 after a database-lock failure. Louisiana’s September 11 roster has no status field. Texas general contracting and plumbing are outside the tracked Texas scope.
Movement limits. No refreshed trailing-30-day total is claimed in this edition. Weekly findings linked above apply only to their named source layers and periods. Other movement remains held or unassessed. Source refreshes and corrected counting methods must not be described as business growth or decline.
Citing This Data
Suggested citation: “Echelon Reports, 1,215,261 selected license and credential units across 20 state source sets, reviewed September 15, 2026. State source dates vary; see the table and limitations.”
For custom pulls, market-specific counts, historical trend data, or license diligence, see the Quality of License Report or contact Echelon Reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many licensed contractors are there in the United States?
This dataset does not establish a national business count. Its 20 state source sets contain 1,215,261 selected license and credential units, reviewed September 15, 2026, using the individual source dates shown. Active-status, roster-only, and historically bounded sets are not interchangeable.
Which tracked state has the most active units?
California contributes 226,172 active-status units from September 5, 2026. This is a comparison within the tracked scope, not a national market-share ranking.
How many HVAC companies are there in the US?
The reviewed classification selections contain 115,886 HVAC, air-conditioning, refrigeration, and mechanical units. These are credentials or classifications, not a national count of companies.
What is the difference between a licensed contractor and a licensed tradesperson?
Idaho’s September 5 source separates 5,093 contractor/entity credentials from 38,804 individual trade credentials. Oklahoma’s retained September 12 source separates 6,054 from 35,755. Credentials do not establish unique-company or unique-person counts.
How often is this data updated?
The page is reviewed on Tuesdays when source and release checks pass. Each row retains its actual source date. A collection failure or unresolved boundary can keep an older count in place.
Can you tell how many contractors went out of business?
No. A removed or changed record can have several administrative explanations. This edition does not publish a refreshed 30-day movement total or a business-closure count.
Do these counts include unlicensed contractors?
The counts come from official licensing and credential source sets, not a survey of unlicensed operators. Roster inclusion does not verify that every selected record is currently active or that the holder is legally authorized for every job.
ECHELON WORKFORCE SIGNAL
Verified credentials. Confirmed mobility. Recruiter-ready leads.
This table counts credentials, not available workers. Workforce Signal tracks confirmed mobility and defined hiring demand as separate evidence.
The Layer Behind These Numbers
The public table summarizes the reviewed source endpoints, including dated retained and bounded records. Validated history supports Echelon’s Deal Ledger and Quality of License work. Neither a credential count nor an administrative change establishes a deal.
Related reading: how trades roll-ups are built, the ERDI methodology, and the commercial roofing ownership map.
Public-records intelligence. Not accounting, legal, or investment advice.
mike@echelonreports.com | linkedin.com/in/jmichaelwarner | x.com/_Mike_Warner