Construction in Virginia
NAICS 23 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023
Benchmarking Construction in Virginia
Construction (NAICS 23) in Virginia reports 206,469 workers across 21,118 establishments, with $15.1B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 2.7% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether Virginia is a primary labor market for this NAICS code or a smaller satellite. A share above 5% signals a meaningful regional cluster; below 1% usually means the state is not a structural fit for this industry at scale.
Wage benchmarking is where state-level data earns its keep. The average annual compensation for Construction employees in Virginia is $73,364/yr, versus a national average of $76,580/yr. Virginia pays below the national average for this industry — common in lower cost-of-living states or where the industry has a smaller, less specialized local workforce.
Profitability data is only available at the national level because the IRS Statistics of Income program does not publish state-level margin breakdowns. The national net profit margin for Construction is 6.3%, and while margins do vary by state, the direction of variance usually follows labor cost and establishment size — both shown above. For a complete picture, pair this state-industry view with the Construction national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the Virginia overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).
Employment
206,469
Establishments
21,118
Annual Payroll
$15.1B
Avg Payroll/Employee
$73,364/yr
Compare to National Average
Profit Margin (National)
National avg — IRS SOI (no state-level profit data)
Avg Payroll/Employee
Virginia vs National avg
Employment
Virginia share of national
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Construction businesses are in Virginia?
What is the average payroll for Construction in Virginia?
How does Virginia compare nationally for Construction?
What is the profit margin for Construction?
Industry Benchmarking Guides
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Salary Data
Occupation Wage Benchmarks
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Labor Market
Industry Labor Statistics
BLS labor force and employment projections by industry on PlainLabor
Tax Data
IRS Tax Statistics
Income, deduction, and filing statistics by state on PlainTaxData
Innovation
Patent Activity Data
USPTO patent grants and applications by technology class on PlainPatent
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns / SUSB Industry employment scale, payroll, and firm-size benchmarks · 2025