Trade / United States

How many plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors are in the United States?

111,207 establishments with paid employees in 2023, +8.5% since 2017, employing 1,214,761 people.

UNITED STATES · 2023

111,207

plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors

Employees: 1,214,761
Average per site: 10.9
Change since 2017: +8.5%
Under 5 employees: 58%

By state

Click a column heading to sort. The last column compares the trade's share of a state's employer businesses with its share nationally: 1.00x is the national average.

Filter states

#	State
1	California	11,686	126,947	+14.6%	0.85x
2	Florida	9,353	94,859	+17.6%	1.09x
3	Texas	8,966	105,623	+18.6%	1.00x
4	New York	7,061	65,999	−0.6%	0.98x
5	Pennsylvania	4,154	44,585	+7.1%	1.02x
6	Illinois	4,070	41,112	−0.2%	0.95x
7	North Carolina	3,973	45,037	+14.9%	1.16x
8	New Jersey	3,454	30,302	−4.6%	1.09x
9	Georgia	3,101	33,250	+12.4%	0.89x
10	Massachusetts	3,069	29,674	−3.8%	1.26x
11	Ohio	2,970	37,781	+0.1%	0.88x
12	Virginia	2,765	34,582	+4.1%	0.99x
13	Michigan	2,661	30,546	+3.5%	0.87x
14	Colorado	2,620	24,178	+9.2%	1.08x
15	Arizona	2,567	32,158	+25.5%	1.19x
16	Washington	2,242	33,116	+0.2%	0.83x
17	Indiana	2,008	26,484	+3.1%	0.97x
18	Maryland	1,986	29,326	−4.3%	1.04x
19	Wisconsin	1,944	23,507	+1.9%	1.01x
20	Missouri	1,915	23,628	+5.2%	0.95x
21	Tennessee	1,899	25,248	+20.3%	0.95x
22	Minnesota	1,816	21,283	+0.7%	0.88x
23	South Carolina	1,685	18,417	+6.1%	1.03x
24	Alabama	1,647	17,066	+18.6%	1.17x
25	Louisiana	1,623	14,032	+12.0%	1.12x
26	Oklahoma	1,592	13,349	+8.2%	1.24x
27	Utah	1,443	15,616	+23.9%	1.14x
28	Kentucky	1,379	15,837	+11.6%	1.10x
29	Oregon	1,337	15,676	+8.1%	0.82x
30	Connecticut	1,318	10,964	+3.4%	1.11x
31	Arkansas	1,145	10,835	+17.2%	1.22x
32	Iowa	1,108	14,647	−0.5%	1.00x
33	Kansas	1,028	11,412	+1.6%	1.02x
34	Nevada	909	17,166	+19.4%	0.88x
35	Idaho	904	9,912	+27.3%	1.17x
36	Nebraska	837	9,947	−0.1%	1.11x
37	Maine	781	4,783	+18.5%	1.35x
38	New Hampshire	776	5,608	+21.8%	1.48x
39	Montana	712	4,448	+18.1%	1.26x
40	Mississippi	709	6,851	+3.4%	0.88x
41	New Mexico	691	6,612	+4.1%	1.16x
42	Rhode Island	494	4,410	+14.4%	1.26x
43	West Virginia	406	2,981	+3.0%	0.85x
44	Hawaii	403	3,944	+8.0%	0.92x
45	South Dakota	401	4,356	+6.4%	1.04x
46	Delaware	344	4,719	+4.2%	0.87x
47	North Dakota	336	3,368	−0.9%	0.99x
48	Wyoming	315	2,479	−5.1%	0.99x
49	Vermont	303	2,390	+2.7%	1.09x
50	Alaska	264	1,939	−1.1%	0.90x
51	District of Columbia	37	1,772	+19.4%	0.12x

Size of the businesses

Plumbing and HVAC contractors in the U.S. by employees
Employees per site	Sites	Share
Under 5	64,871	58.4%
5 to 9	20,587	18.5%
10 to 19	13,148	11.8%
20 to 49	8,384	7.5%
50 to 99	2,561	2.3%
100 to 249	1,293	1.2%
250 to 499	239	0.2%
500 to 999	51	0.0%
1,000 or more	8	0.0%

Questions

How many plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors are there in the United States?

111,207 establishments with paid employees in 2023 per the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns, employing 1,214,761 people.

Which state has the most plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors?

California has the most with 11,686, followed by Florida (9,353) and Texas (8,966). Large states lead simply because they have more people and businesses; the last column shows the trade's share of a state's businesses against the national share.

Read this before using the number

Establishments with paid employees only. Self-employed people with no staff are not in these counts. The figures describe existing businesses, not demand or earnings. See the disclaimer.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (2023; change measured against 2017, 2019 and 2022). Establishments with paid employees only; employment and payroll carry Census noise infusion. Retrieved November 2, 2026. Method and sources.