- Massachusetts must raise homebuilding to about 22,000 units per year to reach 222,000 new homes by 2035, but the residential construction workforce (~18,400 in 2023) remains below prior peaks.
- Capacity is constrained by an aging workforce (30% age 55+), heavy reliance on non-citizen/foreign-born labor, and a large self-employed segment that complicates scaling.
- Key construction occupations have grown strongly since 2012, yet real wage gains are mostly modest, potentially limiting recruitment and retention.
- Meeting the goal likely requires faster training/licensing pipelines, broader participation, supportive immigration policy, and productivity gains such as modular/off-site construction.
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Massachusetts is pursuing an ambitious housing goal—adding 222,000 homes by 2035—which requires increasing annual home production from a baseline of approximately 19,000 per year (2010-20 average) to at least 22,000. However, construction employment in the residential sector in 2023 stood at ~18,400, just recovering toward a pre-recession high of ~20,000, suggesting that the gap is both real and material.
The state’s construction workforce displays several structural vulnerabilities. One is demographic: about 30 percent of residential construction workers are aged 55+, implying substantial retirements ahead and urgent need for new labor entrants. In training pipelines, occupations like electricians demand multi-year apprenticeships or licensure, which slow quick expansion.
Self-employment plays a large role—nonemployer statistics show that in 2022, approximately 15,000 self-employed workers in residential construction, nearly 45 percent of the employer-based workforce. While this offers flexibility and scale, it also complicates tracking, stability, and benefits.
Non-citizen and foreign-born workers form a vital part of the labor force. In construction occupations across MA, 21 percent are non-citizen, sharply higher in certain trades (hazmat, masons, roofers), compared to ~10 percent statewide. More broadly, about 26.5 percent of construction workers are foreign-born. Immigration enforcement, policy shifts, and restrictions could thus materially affect capacity.
Core occupation growth has been strong over 2012-23: supervisory and management roles (141 percent, 83 percent growth) and trade-craft positions (plumbers, electricians, operating engineers) all rose significantly. Yet wage growth (inflation-adjusted) has lagged for most roles, with few exceptions, potentially undermining labor attraction.
Massachusetts also faces lagging productivity in single-family home construction compared to pre-Great Recession levels. Given limits in how fast labor can expand, productivity gains through innovation—modular/off-site construction—could help bridge the gap. The state has begun to explore this via HUD and MAPC grants.
In contrast, labor availability statewide has recently shown softness: a report found Massachusetts lost ~7,100 construction jobs between March 2024–25—a 4.1 percent drop, faster than many other states. This decline could presage challenges meeting demand.
Strategically, this suggests a multi-pronged policy response: support occupational training, streamline licensing/apprenticeships; promote diversity and inclusion; protect immigrant worker participation; invest in productivity tools and technologies; align wage structures to retain skilled trades; and monitor regional permitting/process delays which may bottleneck supply independent of labor.
Open questions remain about the potential elasticity of labor supply under current immigration and wage trends, the rate at which women and people of color can be meaningfully recruited, how productivity increases can realistically scale, and how regulatory or zoning constraints may compound labor shortages.
Supporting Notes
- Massachusetts needs to add 22,000 homes annually to meet the 2035 target, above the 2010-20 average of ~19,000 units; residential construction employment in 2023 was ~18,400 workers, up from 12,900 in 2012.
- The specialty trades subsector grew from 79,400 jobs in 2012 to 121,400 in 2023—a >53 percent increase.
- In 2022, Massachusetts had ~15,000 self-employed workers in residential construction compared to ~18,500 employed by firms, making self-employed roughly 45 percent of the workforce.
- 30 percent of MA residential building workers are age 55 or older; only ~26 percent of MA’s overall workforce and national residential construction workforce are that old, indicating a skew toward older ages in MA’s sector.
- 21 percent of workers in construction occupations in MA are non-citizens; specific trades like masons and roofers have over 50 percent non-citizen.
- Core occupation job growth 2012-2023: first-line supervisors +141 percent; construction managers +83 percent; operating engineers +96 percent; plumbers/pipefitters/steamfitters +83 percent; electricians +56 percent; cement masons/concrete finishers +54 percent.
- Wage growth inflation-adjusted: cement masons/concrete finishers ≈35 percent; most other core occupations ≤10 percent; four core occupations actually saw wage declines.
- Construction job losses in Massachusetts of ~7,100 jobs between March 2024-25, a -4.1 percent change.
- In Massachusetts, 26.4-26.5 percent of construction workers are foreign-born; more than a quarter nationally in MA’s construction trades worker base.