Contractors Fill Out Forbes List of America’s Largest Private Companies

Nearly all of a significant portion of Forbes’ list of the largest-revenue private companies in the US that come from the construction industry are constructors

03152022 Smallestof Forbes Largest Private Contractors
data: Forbes; table: ForConstructionPros.com

Thirty-five of the 225-company list of America’s largest private companies (about 16%), according to Forbes, are in the construction industry. Nearly all are constructors – five companies are construction-product manufacturers or distributors.

The largest private construction companies that call the world’s largest construction market home won’t surprise many: Bechtel, Kiewit, ABC Supply, Whiting-Turner. They put up impressive numbers: a span of $17.6 billion to $9.2 billion in revenue.

Kiewit commits 27,000 employees to earning its $12.5 billion in revenue. Whiting-Turner brings home $9.2 billion with a little more than 4,200 on the payroll. No judgement on either company – but differences in portions of revenue earned in less labor-intensive types of construction create interesting contrast.

The smallest of the biggest, Zachry Group, is estimated to book about $2 billion in annual revenue.

Construction giants are pretty evenly distributed among U.S. states. Inevitably, they gained size with growth in many markets and regions, but it’s curious to see that the state where the largest number are headquartered is Missouri.

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