The Census Bureau publishes data on Construction Activity including residential, commercial, and public. The Census Bureau define construction activity to include building construction and engineering projects (e.g., highways and utility systems). In reporting on construction establishments, it includes those primarily engaged in site preparation and subdividing land for sale as building sites. Construction work includes new construction, additions, alterations, or maintenance and repairs. With respect to classification of establishments within the sector, general contractors working under contracts that include responsibility for all aspects of individual construction project are also sometimes referred to design-builders, construction managers, turnkey contractors, or joint-venture contractors. Establishments of the "general contractor type" frequently arrange construction of separate parts of their projects through subcontracts with other construction establishmen


The Census Bureau reports on Building Permits at various levels of geography ranging from US and Regions, to Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), and County or Place.


Residential Building Permits can be downloaded in Excel in monthly files for all Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Users have the choice of retrieving BPs quantified by Value or Number of Units.


CB data for New Residential Construction reports national and regional data on the number of new housing units authorized by building permits; authorized, but not started; started; under construction; and completed. The data are for new, privately-owned housing units, excluding "HUD-code" manufactured (mobile) homes. The data are from the Building Permits Survey, and from the Survey of Construction (SOC), which is partially funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

To help monitor trends in residential housing characteristics, the CB publishes annual reports that provide a profile on new construction activity. These reports include both single family and multi-family housing. On the single-family front statistics are reported for number of bedrooms, bathrooms, heating & cooling systems, type of financing, construction materials, external wall finishes, median size, and sales price. Multifamily data include bedroom mix, type of structure, number of stories, number of units, construction materials, and median size for rent vs. own.



To support analysis and graphing, CB data can be retrieved in TTime Series/Trend data. The data are retrieved through a menu-driven query that allows the user to select the type, date range, units or values, and geographic areas. From there the data can be downloaded or graphed using CB's packaged graphs.


The CB also publishes data reporting the Value of Construction Put in Place Survey (VIP) provides monthly estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done in the U.S. The monthly survey covers construction work for new structures as well as improvements to existing structures for private and public sectors. Data estimates include the cost of labor and materials, cost of architectural and engineering work, overhead costs, interest and taxes paid during construction, and contractor's profits. The data are reported by type of construction.