How Many Licensed Contractors Are There? State-by-State 2026 Data

Data assembled September 1, 2026 | Source: Echelon Reports Database, 2,279,910 state trade-license records across 20 approved states. State sources refresh asynchronously, and each row carries its own source date. This page is refreshed Tuesday morning after the weekend collection and repair cycle.

There are 1,217,637 active license and credential units across the approved scope, drawn from 2,279,910 current and historical records. These are state-native credentials, not unique contractor businesses.

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 Echelon Reports Database shows 1,217,637 active license and credential units across 20 approved states. California is the largest tracked row at 232,347. Minnesota follows at 137,482, then Florida at 132,771.

A unit is one active credential in a state’s official records. Some states license businesses. Others also license individual tradespeople such as master electricians, journeymen, and apprentices. The table reports the source-native unit and does not convert credentials into business counts.

Active License and Credential Units by State

State	Active units	Authority and scope	Source as of
Arizona	58,562	AZ Registrar of Contractors	2026-08-29
California	232,347	Contractors State License Board (CSLB)	2026-08-29
Colorado	63,468	DORA electrical and plumbing boards *	2026-08-29 23:34:07
Florida	132,771	DBPR construction and electrical boards	2026-08-29
Idaho	44,293	Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses *	2026-08-29
Kentucky	37,389	Dept. of Housing, Buildings and Construction *	2026-08-29 23:33:22
Louisiana	28,084	State Licensing Board for Contractors	2026-07-22 22:39:42
Minnesota	137,482	Dept. of Labor and Industry *	2026-08-30
Mississippi	13,581	State Board of Contractors	2026-08-05
North Carolina	18,911	Licensing Board for General Contractors, NC-addressed account floor **	2026-08-08
Nevada	19,001	State Contractors Board	2026-08-09 00:15:01
Ohio	10,474	Construction Industry Licensing Board, commercial specialty credentials	2026-08-29 23:00:04
Oklahoma	41,244	Construction Industries Board *	2026-08-08
Oregon	45,511	Construction Contractors Board	2026-08-29
Rhode Island	1,017	Dept. of Labor and Training, maintained plumbing-license details only **	2026-07-31
Tennessee	34,717	Board for Licensing Contractors	2026-08-29 23:33:19
Texas	54,349	TDLR trades, no statewide general-contractor license *	2026-08-29
Virginia	90,630	Board for Contractors	2026-08-29 00:05:01
Washington	75,686	Dept. of Labor and Industries	2026-08-31
Wisconsin	78,120	Dept. of Safety and Professional Services *	2026-08-30 00:47:41
TOTAL (20 states)	1,217,637	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 Changed in the Last 30 Days

Across eight validated change-table sources, the 30 days ending September 1 produced 7,374 new records, 1,172 removed records, 9,134 status changes, and 612 qualifier changes in the comparable classes below.

State	New	Removed	Status changes	Qualifier changes
Arizona	532	95	1,335	612
Colorado	569	2	n/a	n/a
Idaho	2,372	677	1,608	n/a
Kentucky	321	n/a	n/a	n/a
Minnesota	1,618	367	3,598	n/a
Mississippi	43	n/a	n/a	n/a
Tennessee	357	31	n/a	n/a
Wisconsin	1,562	n/a	2,593	n/a

“n/a” means the source does not expose a validated comparable class. Florida, Texas, and Ohio use snapshot pairs and are excluded. Oklahoma has no validated rows in the window. Virginia is excluded from this comparable table because its longer history contains a restamped load. Mississippi contributes only new records because expiration flips combine lapses and reinstatements. Nevada and Rhode Island movement remain on hold after source failures, and North Carolina has no comparable endpoint.

A diff compares retained endpoints. A removed record is not proof of a closure, sale, transfer, succession event, or business failure.

Contractors Versus Licensed Tradespeople

A license is not automatically a company. Where a state separates contractor businesses from individually licensed tradespeople, both figures are reported.

State	All active units	Contractor businesses	Individually licensed tradespeople
Idaho	44,293	5,138	39,155
Oklahoma	41,244	5,950	35,294

Standing footnote: The headline total counts all active source-native units. Contractor-business and tradesperson splits are separate bases and should not be added to the headline total.

Counts by Trade: General, Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, Roofing

Trade totals use each state’s native classifications. One credential can carry multiple classifications, and a state that does not separately license a trade contributes zero. The trade buckets therefore overlap and do not sum to the headline total.

Trade	Active units	Notes
General and building	335,830	Excludes states with no separable statewide general classification
Electrical	296,254	Includes individual-license states
Plumbing	120,961	Texas plumbing is outside the tracked Texas source
HVAC and mechanical	116,311	Includes refrigeration where separately classified
Roofing	21,962	Separately classified in seven approved states

General and Building Contractors: 335,830

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: 296,254

Electrical is heavily affected by individual licensing in Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, and Oklahoma.

Plumbing: 120,961

Rhode Island contributes 1,017 maintained plumbing details. Texas plumbing remains outside the tracked Texas source.

HVAC and Mechanical: 116,311

This bucket includes HVAC, air-conditioning, refrigeration, and mechanical credentials where the state exposes a comparable classification.

Roofing: 21,962

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 often count different units: workers, establishments, modeled businesses, or licenses. This page counts active state-held license and credential records. Each unit traces to a state identifier, but one unit does not necessarily equal one business.

Every pull is preserved and compared with the prior endpoint. That makes the current count reconcilable and allows validated movement to be reported without presenting administrative changes as confirmed business events.

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. One active source-native license or credential record, deduplicated on the state identifier rather than business name. Individual credentials are included where a board issues them and separated where validated.

Active status. Each state’s native status vocabulary controls inclusion. Inactive, expired, suspended, revoked, or terminated records remain in the archive but are excluded from the active total.

Refresh cadence. Collection and diffing occur over the weekend. The public page is refreshed Tuesday morning after database-health and repair review. State endpoints refresh asynchronously, so the table reports each state’s source date.

Known limitations. These counts cover 20 approved states, not fifty. North Carolina is an NC-addressed general-contractor account floor from incomplete ZIP enumeration. Rhode Island is limited to maintained Department of Labor and Training plumbing-license details and is not a statewide general-contractor census. Louisiana is current through July 22, Rhode Island through July 31, Mississippi through August 5, North Carolina and Oklahoma through August 8, and Nevada through August 9. Nevada remains blocked at the official source. Oklahoma transport remains blocked, and its movement data is unsafe. Texas general contracting and Texas plumbing are not represented. Multi-state operators can appear in several rows because the license, not the company, is the counting unit.

Movement limits. Diffs compare retained endpoints. A record that changes and reverts between pulls is invisible. A removed record is a signal, not proof of closure or a transaction.

Citing This Data

Suggested citation: “Echelon Reports Database, 2.28 million state trade-license records across 20 approved states, assembled September 1, 2026, echelonreports.com.”

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?

There is no national registry. Across the 20 approved states, Echelon counted 1,217,637 active license and credential units assembled September 1 from asynchronous state sources. This is not a unique-business count.

Which tracked state has the most active units?

California leads with 232,347 active units as of August 29, 2026.

How many HVAC companies are there in the US?

The tracked sources classify 116,311 active HVAC, air-conditioning, refrigeration, and mechanical units. This is not a national company count.

What is the difference between a licensed contractor and a licensed tradesperson?

Idaho separates 5,138 contractor businesses from 39,155 individually licensed tradespeople. Oklahoma separates 5,950 contractor businesses from 35,294 individually licensed tradespeople. The categories are different counting units.

How often is this data updated?

Weekly. Collection and diffing occur over the weekend. The page is refreshed Tuesday morning after health and repair review. Each state row carries its own source date.

Can you tell how many contractors went out of business?

No. The validated table shows 1,172 removed records. Removal can reflect closure, retirement, renewal timing, bond or insurance issues, correction, or another administrative cause.

Do these counts include unlicensed contractors?

No. These figures include only active credentials in official state records. They do not measure unlicensed operators or unique businesses.

The Layer Behind These Numbers

The public table is a count of the present. The retained archive records change over time, including status movement and qualifier movement. That history supports Echelon’s Deal Ledger and Quality of License work.

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