Who’s who in 2020: Top 10 contractors in the U.S.

Leading U.S. construction firms make up 13% of the world’s top 200, second only to China, which has 36.2% of the total

Despite the challenges of a worldwide pandemic and the resulting economic fallout, construction has managed to do better than many industries, thanks in part to an influx of stimulus funds and historically low mortgage rates among the contributing factors.

Many of the world’s leading construction contractors (13%, in fact) are U.S.-based companies that are capitalizing on the industry’s burgeoning recovery, which experts say could last into 2025 and beyond.

When viewed in a global context, only China is home to more of the world’s largest contractors than the U.S. Combined sales for American construction firms within the world’s top 200 contractors totaled $227 billion in 2019 (the last year of complete data), while China’s contractors had combined sales of $631 billion, which is 36.2% of the total. 

To see which firms are dominating the field here in the U.S., we tapped our colleagues over at International Construction to help us create a list of the top 10 leading contractors. The following firms are ranked from 10 to 1 in terms of total annual sales in 2019.

10. Kiewit Corporation - Kiewit Corporation is a privately held construction company based in Omaha, Nebraska and founded in 1884. Privately held, it is one of the largest construction and engineering organizations in North America with 2019 sales of $8.2 billion.  

9. McDermott International - McDermott is an American, Panamanian-domiciled multinational engineering, procurement, construction and installation company with operations in the Americas, Middle East, the Caspian Sea and the Pacific Rim. Incorporated in Panama, it is headquartered in the Energy Corridor area of Houston, Texas.

Annual sales in 2019 totaled $8.4 billion.

8. Whiting-Turner Contracting - Whiting-Turner is based in Baltimore, Maryland, providing construction management, general contracting, design-build and integrated project delivery services on projects small and large for a diverse group of customers. 

With 50 locations across the U.S., Whiting-Turner has annual sales of $8.7 billion.  

7. EMCOR Group - EMCOR Group is a company based in Norwalk, Connecticut. Listed on the Fortune 500, EMCOR provides mechanical and electrical construction, industrial and energy infrastructure and facilities services to commercial, industrial, utility and institutional customers. 

With annual sales of $9.2 billion, EMCOR employs more than 33,000 professionals at over 80 companies in 170 locations. 

6. PulteGroup Inc. - PulteGroup Inc. is a home construction company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company is the third largest home construction company in the U.S. based on the number of homes closed. Pulte operates in 44 markets in 23 states.

Since its founding in 1950, PulteGroup claims to have delivered almost 750,000 homes throughout the U.S.

Pulte Group has annual sales of $10.2 billion.

5. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. - Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is an American international technical professional services firm. The company provides technical, professional and construction services, as well as scientific and specialty consulting for a broad range of clients globally, including companies, organizations and government agencies.

Based in Dallas, Texas, Jacobs employs 52,000 people worldwide and has $12.7 billion in annual sales. 

4. D.R. Horton Inc. - D.R. Horton Inc. is a home construction company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Arlington, Texas. Since 2002, the company claims it has been the largest homebuilder by volume in the U.S.

D.R. Horton has annual sales of $17.6 billion. 

3. Fluor Corporation - Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. 

Fluor is ranked 181 among the Fortune 500 companies and has provided engineering, procurement and construction services for more than 100 years. It’s annual sales total $19.2 billion.

Fluor recently named a new CEO, David E. Constable, and outlined a new strategy to “become the preeminent leader of professional and technical solutions,” building upon the realignment of its operations into three new business segments - Energy Solutions, Urban Solutions and Mission Solutions.

2. Bechtel Corporation - Bechtel Corporation is an engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. 

“Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world’s infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources, and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place,” the company’s website states.

With annual sales of $21.8 billion, Bechtel serves the Infrastructure; Nuclear, Security & Environmental; Oil, Gas & Chemicals; and Mining & Metals markets. Its services span from initial planning and investment, through start-up and operations.

1. Lennar Corporation - Lennar Corporation is a home construction and real estate company based in Fontainebleau, Florida. The company began in 1954 when Gene Fisher and Arnold Rosen formed F&R Builders in Miami, Florida. In 1956, Leonard Miller became co-owner and partnered with Rosen. Leonard and Arnold combined their names to rename the company Lennar in 1971, the same year Lennar Corporation went public.

After decades of acquisitions and introductions, Lennar merged with CalAtlantic Homes in 2018, creating the largest homebuilding company in the U.S. Lennar has $22.3 billion in annual sales. 

Click for a comprehensive listing of the world’s top 200 contractors by International Construction magazine.