ABC: Wisconsin is Top State for Construction

Wisconsin is the No. 1 state for construction, according to Associated Builders and Contractors’ 10th annual Merit Shop Scorecard. The scorecard, released annually since 2015, ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on policies and programs that better career pathways in construction, further workforce development and strengthen fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction projects. Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Florida rounded out the top five states in 2024, in ranking order.

Wisconsin has been a high-performing state year after year, but takes the top spot for the highest scores on fair and open competition policies prohibiting government-mandated project labor agreements, ensuring market-driven wages on public works jobs and protecting workers with its right-to-work law; a sustained level of positive job growth in construction, with a five-year job growth rate of 4.4%; a continued commitment to quality career and technical education, delivering a 97.4% graduation rate for students in career technical education programs and a 91.4% rate of postsecondary CTE students placed in careers and/or apprenticeship programs; and a workforce development pipeline that delivers a construction labor supply over 100% of demand amidst a severe nationwide construction labor shortage.

Arkansas came in second behind Wisconsin, one step up from 2023 when it ranked third. The state has excelled at all aspects of fostering and educating a skilled workforce, boasting a 6.1% growth rate in construction industry jobs and delivering outstanding results in CTE. Arkansas also maintains a fair and open public construction market, allowing the full breadth of the state’s construction workforce to pursue projects.

The 2024 Building America: The Merit Shop Scorecard rates state laws, programs, policies and statistics in seven categories: project labor agreements, prevailing wage laws, right-to-work laws, public-private partnerships, workforce development, CTE and job growth rate.