Construction · Wisconsin

Construction in Wisconsin

NAICS 238 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Construction in Wisconsin

Construction (NAICS 238) in Wisconsin reports 86,893 workers across 10,100 establishments, with $6.7B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 1.7% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin is $77,080/yr, versus a national average of $71,571/yr. Wisconsin pays above the national average for this industry, which usually reflects higher skill concentration, union density, or regional cost of living.

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 7.6%, 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 Wisconsin overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

86,893

Establishments

10,100

Annual Payroll

$6.7B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$77,080/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

7.6% National

National avg — IRS SOI (no state-level profit data)

Avg Payroll/Employee

$77,080/yr Wisconsin
$71,571/yr National

Wisconsin vs National avg

Employment

86,893 Wisconsin
4,986,759 National

Wisconsin share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Construction businesses are in Wisconsin?
There are 10,100 Construction (NAICS 238) establishments in Wisconsin, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 86,893 workers.
What is the average payroll for Construction in Wisconsin?
The average annual payroll per employee for Construction in Wisconsin is $77,080/yr. The national average for this industry is $71,571/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does Wisconsin compare nationally for Construction?
Wisconsin accounts for 1.7% of national employment in Construction, with 86,893 of 4,986,759 total US workers in this industry. The national profit margin for this industry is 7.6% (state-level profit data is not available from Census).
What is the profit margin for Construction?
The national net profit margin for Construction is 7.6%, based on IRS Statistics of Income data. Note that state-level profit margin data is not available from Census Bureau sources — this figure reflects the nationwide average across all business entities.
Disclaimer: PlainBizBench provides publicly available IRS and Census data for informational purposes only. This is not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant or financial advisor for business-specific guidance.
Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · NAICS 238 · WI

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBizBench Editorial

Source: U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns / SUSB Industry employment scale, payroll, and firm-size benchmarks · 2025

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