1930 Census: Construction Industry. Reports by States with Statistics for Counties and Cities of 100,000 Population and over, A Summary for the United States, and a Study of the Location and Agencies of the Construction Industry

1933

In 1930, the first census of the contracting group of the construction industry was inaugurated as part of the decennial census. This emphasized the importance of public works construction as the “balance wheel” of American industry for securing and maintaining general prosperity throughout the nation.

All persons and establishments engaged in construction business of any kind, including repairs and remodeling as well as new work, provided their gross business for the year amounted to at least $25,000, were required to furnish reports.

The term contractor has been used throughout this census to designate any person or establishment responsible for handling any kind of construction business for others, whether under contract or not.

Chapters

Chapter 1: Inauguration and Scope [1.7 MB]

Chapter 2: Organization of the Construction Industry [1.4 MB]

Chapter 3: General Survey of the Construction Industry [4.9 MB]

Chapter 4: Statistics by State [2.9 MB]

Chapter 5: Explanation of Tables [<1.0 MB]

Table: United States Summary [21.0 MB]

Table: Alabama through Delaware [27.0 MB]

Table: District of Columbia through Iowa [26.4 MB]

Table: Kansas through Massachusetts [23.7 MB]

Table: Michigan through Nevada [25.0 MB]

Table: New Hampshire through New York [31.7 MB]

Table: North Carolina through Oregon [23.3 MB]

Table: Pennsylvania through Texas [28.9 MB]

Table: Virginia through Wyoming; Title Page, Table of Contents, Introduction, Maps, Charts, and Tables 1 through 10 [25.7 MB]

Appendix A: Letter of Transmittal and Instructions for Preparing Reports; Appendix B: Form of Schedule for Census of Construction Industry [<1.0 MB]

Download Full Report

Full Report [243.1 MB]

A Note on Language

Census statistics date back to 1790 and reflect the growth and change of the United States. Past census reports contain some terms that today’s readers may consider obsolete and inappropriate. As part of our goal to be open and transparent with the public, we are improving access to all Census Bureau original publications and statistics, which serve as a guide to the nation's history.

Related Information

1930 Decennial Census Publications

Last Revised: October 8, 2021

Some content on this site is available in several different electronic formats. Some of the files may require a plug-in or additional software to view.