Fresh data from the Census Bureau not only reveal where America's remodeling companies are located but also substantial differences in how much workers at those firms get paid.
We created this chart based on the government's 2012 Economic Census. It typically takes several years for results from that census to get processed so that state and local numbers can be revealed; the numbers below came out only this month. After sorting the raw data table to show only the numbers for remodeling firms, we added calculations to show the number of workers and payroll per firm as well as payroll per worker.
This report shows all remodeling firms in the U.S. with at least one employee. It excludes self-employed, one-person operations.
What did we find? That while the average worker on a remodeling company's payroll earned $34,046 in 2012, the range by state went from $42,794 in Texas down to $19,316 in Montana. And average worker payroll in the District of Columbia was even higher, at $58,230 per worker.
Here's the state-by-state list:
| State | Firms | Workers | Payroll ($1,000) | Workers / Firm | Payroll / Firm | Payroll / Worker |
| ALL U.S. | 77,691 | 278,862 | $9,494,245 | 3.59 | $122,205 | $34,046 |
| Alabama | 510 | 1,935 | $59,697 | 3.79 | $117,053 | $30,851 |
| Alaska | 260 | 736 | $27,323 | 2.83 | $105,088 | $37,124 |
| Arizona | 1,280 | 5,396 | $164,989 | 4.22 | $128,898 | $30,576 |
| Arkansas | 295 | 986 | $25,771 | 3.34 | $87,359 | $26,137 |
| California | 9,601 | 40,851 | $1,460,208 | 4.25 | $152,089 | $35,745 |
| Colorado | 1,517 | 4,821 | $186,999 | 3.18 | $123,269 | $38,788 |
| Connecticut | 983 | 3,726 | $135,510 | 3.79 | $137,854 | $36,369 |
| Delaware | 293 | 944 | $25,786 | 3.22 | $88,007 | $27,316 |
| D.C. | 80 | 457 | $26,611 | 5.71 | $332,638 | $58,230 |
| Florida | 4,652 | 13,672 | $446,238 | 2.94 | $95,924 | $32,639 |
| Georgia | 1,389 | 4,912 | $166,537 | 3.54 | $119,897 | $33,904 |
| Hawaii | 208 | 891 | $34,825 | 4.28 | $167,428 | $39,085 |
| Idaho | 485 | 1,505 | $32,519 | 3.10 | $67,049 | $21,607 |
| Illinois | 4,080 | 11,526 | $380,226 | 2.83 | $93,193 | $32,989 |
| Indiana | 1,696 | 6,305 | $182,425 | 3.72 | $107,562 | $28,933 |
| Iowa | 797 | 2,714 | $78,306 | 3.41 | $98,251 | $28,853 |
| Kansas | 470 | 2,370 | $82,796 | 5.04 | $176,162 | $34,935 |
| Kentucky | 594 | 2,016 | $60,177 | 3.39 | $101,308 | $29,850 |
| Louisiana | 427 | 2,071 | $60,592 | 4.85 | $141,902 | $29,257 |
| Maine | 613 | 1,639 | $49,095 | 2.67 | $80,090 | $29,954 |
| Maryland | 2,402 | 10,361 | $392,221 | 4.31 | $163,289 | $37,856 |
| Massachusetts | 2,391 | 9,001 | $375,128 | 3.76 | $156,892 | $41,676 |
| Michigan | 2,214 | 7,763 | $246,856 | 3.51 | $111,498 | $31,799 |
| Minnesota | 1,882 | 5,383 | $180,839 | 2.86 | $96,089 | $33,594 |
| Mississippi | 243 | 660 | $16,153 | 2.72 | $66,473 | $24,474 |
| Missouri | 1,642 | 5,534 | $179,793 | 3.37 | $109,496 | $32,489 |
| Montana | 337 | 949 | $18,331 | 2.82 | $54,395 | $19,316 |
| Nebraska | 548 | 1,384 | $40,161 | 2.53 | $73,286 | $29,018 |
| Nevada | 424 | 2,162 | $65,810 | 5.10 | $155,212 | $30,439 |
| New Hampshire | 471 | 1,329 | $47,913 | 2.82 | $101,726 | $36,052 |
| New Jersey | 2,658 | 9,956 | $335,393 | 3.75 | $126,182 | $33,688 |
| New Mexico | 376 | 1,591 | $44,088 | 4.23 | $117,255 | $27,711 |
| New York | 7,924 | 27,747 | $973,665 | 3.50 | $122,875 | $35,091 |
| North Carolina | 1,805 | 6,764 | $219,206 | 3.75 | $121,444 | $32,408 |
| North Dakota | 206 | 817 | $19,797 | 3.97 | $96,102 | $24,231 |
| Ohio | 2,479 | 8,136 | $254,613 | 3.28 | $102,708 | $31,295 |
| Oklahoma | 458 | 1,883 | $61,580 | 4.11 | $134,454 | $32,703 |
| Oregon | 1,743 | 5,367 | $172,193 | 3.08 | $98,791 | $32,084 |
| Pennsylvania | 3,904 | 13,634 | $436,068 | 3.49 | $111,698 | $31,984 |
| Rhode Island | 457 | 1,431 | $53,606 | 3.13 | $117,300 | $37,461 |
| South Carolina | 835 | 2,517 | $79,520 | 3.01 | $95,234 | $31,593 |
| South Dakota | 268 | 762 | $18,668 | 2.84 | $69,657 | $24,499 |
| Tennessee | 864 | 4,214 | $166,294 | 4.88 | $192,470 | $39,462 |
| Texas | 2,329 | 10,014 | $428,539 | 4.30 | $184,001 | $42,794 |
| Utah | 680 | 1,840 | $50,767 | 2.71 | $74,657 | $27,591 |
| Vermont | 369 | 1,109 | $35,732 | 3.01 | $96,835 | $32,220 |
| Virginia | 2,854 | 10,487 | $369,519 | 3.67 | $129,474 | $35,236 |
| Washington | 2,757 | 9,328 | $317,118 | 3.38 | $115,023 | $33,996 |
| West Virginia | 414 | 1,464 | $32,931 | 3.54 | $79,543 | $22,494 |
| Wisconsin | 1,264 | 5,061 | $154,995 | 4.00 | $122,623 | $30,625 |
| Wyoming | 263 | 741 | $20,118 | 2.82 | $76,494 | $27,150 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau's 2012 Economic Census
