School Construction Statistics

In a February 2nd article in Engineering News Record,"Demographics Drive Market: Kids Keep School Work Going Strong," author Tim Grogan takes a look at the school construction market. Spurred on by a surge in student enrollments, school construction has been one of the industry's strongest markets over the last decade. While state fiscal problems are expected to slow the double-digit growth of recent years, the underlaying demographics will keep the school building market going strong for years to come. Through the first 11 months of last year, total school construction put-in-place reached $66.2 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. McGraw-Hill Construction estimates that the total school market slipped 5% in 2003 to 239 million square feet and it predicts that the school market's size will shrink another 12 million square feet in 2004. Click here for more information.

Monthly data from McGraw-Hill Dodge on public K-12 school construction activity is available on the NCEF website. Data is categorized by additions, alterations, and new projects, as well as by primary, junior high, senior high, and vocational schools. See NCEF's Construction Data monthly update.