50 U.S. Millwork Industry Statistics That Matter in 2026

The U.S. millwork industry in 2026 is shaped by three forces: steady but slow construction and remodeling demand, a shrinking pool of skilled workers, and the spread of digital tools that concentrate work into fewer, more capable hands. Below are 50 statistics that map that landscape. Each one is drawn from a primary source you can check yourself, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, IBISWorld, the American Institute of Architects, the Associated General Contractors of America, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Dodge Construction Network, and the U.S. Green Building Council.

Table of Contents

• Market Size and Structure
• Construction Demand and Spending
• Residential and Remodeling Demand
• The Skilled-Labor Gap: Woodworkers and Carpenters
• The Drafting and Design Workforce
• Hiring Difficulty and Project Delays
• Technology and BIM Adoption
• Sustainability and LEED v5
• Key Takeaways
• FAQs
• Sources

Market Size and Structure

1. The U.S. millwork market was worth approximately $37.5 billion in 2025. ¹
2. It is projected to reach roughly $38.5 billion in 2026. ¹
3. Industry growth has been essentially flat, averaging about 1.7% a year between 2020 and 2025. ¹

Construction Demand and Spending

4. Total U.S. construction spending was running at roughly $2.17 trillion on an annualized basis in late 2025. ⁷
5. Nonresidential building spending is projected to rise just 1.0% in 2026. ⁸
6. The outlook improves only modestly, to 2.2% growth in 2027. ⁸
7. Spending on commercial facilities is expected to grow about 3.0% in 2026. ⁸
8. Spending on manufacturing facilities topped $230 billion in 2024, a 20% jump over the prior year. ⁸
9. Manufacturing, warehouses, and data centers together now account for more than 40% of all building construction spending. ⁸
10. That share was about 25% in 2019, showing how concentrated demand has become. ⁸
11. Healthcare facilities are projected for mid-single-digit growth in 2026, while traditional office space (excluding data centers) is set to decline. ⁸

Residential and Remodeling Demand

12. U.S. homeowner remodeling and repair spending is projected to total about $522 billion in 2026. ¹³
13. That spending rose 2.7% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025, reaching $514 billion. ¹³
14. Remodeling growth is expected to slow from 2.9% early in 2026 to 1.6% by the end of the year. ¹³
15. U.S. housing starts were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.3 million in mid-2025. ¹⁴

The Skilled-Labor Gap: Woodworkers and Carpenters

16. Woodworkers held about 214,600 jobs in the U.S. in 2024. ²
17. The median annual wage for woodworkers was $43,720 in May 2024. ²
18. Woodworker pay ranged from under $31,370 for the lowest 10% to over $59,570 for the top 10%. ²
19. Woodworker employment is projected to decline 2% from 2024 to 2034. ²
20. Even with that decline, about 21,400 woodworker openings are expected each year, almost all to replace people who retire or leave the field. ²
21. The BLS attributes shrinking woodworker demand largely to automation, especially CNC machinery. ²
22. Carpenters held about 959,000 jobs in 2024, making them one of the largest construction trades. ⁶
23. The median annual wage for carpenters was $59,310 in May 2024. ⁶
24. Carpenter employment is projected to grow 4% from 2024 to 2034. ⁶
25. About 74,100 carpenter openings are projected each year over the decade. ⁶

The Drafting and Design Workforce

26. Overall drafter employment is projected to show little or no change from 2024 to 2034. ³
27. About 16,200 drafter openings are projected each year over the decade. ³
28. The BLS expects CAD and BIM to reduce employment for many types of drafters, because the tools let each drafter do far more. ³
29. The median annual wage for architects was $96,690 in May 2024. ⁴
30. Architect employment is projected to grow 4% from 2024 to 2034. ⁴
31. Architecture and engineering occupations had a median wage of $97,310 in May 2024. ⁵
32. That is nearly double the $49,500 median wage for all U.S. workers. ⁵

Hiring Difficulty and Project Delays

33. 92% of U.S. construction firms reported difficulty filling open positions in 2025. ¹²
34. 45% of firms said worker shortages had delayed at least one project in the past year, the single most-cited cause of delays. ¹²
35. 57% of firms cited a lack of skills, qualifications, or licenses among the candidates they saw. ¹²
36. 48% reported new hires failing to show up or quickly quitting. ¹²
37. 41% cited candidates lacking required credentials. ¹²
38. Only 10% of firms use the H-2B or other temporary work visa programs to fill craft or salaried roles. ¹²
39. 28% of firms reported being affected directly or indirectly by immigration enforcement. ¹²
40. The survey drew responses from nearly 1,400 union and open-shop firms of all sizes. ¹²

Technology and BIM Adoption

41. Industry-wide BIM adoption was just 28% in 2007. ⁹
42. By 2012, 71% of architects, engineers, contractors, and owners reported using BIM. ⁹
43. Contractors overtook architects as the leading BIM users, at about 74% adoption. ⁹

Sustainability and LEED v5

44. The U.S. Green Building Council published LEED v5 in April 2025. ¹⁰
45. In January 2026, USGBC aligned LEED v5 with the FSC, SFI, and PEFC wood certification standards. ¹⁰
46. Under LEED v5, certified wood can contribute up to 22 points on Building Design and Construction projects. ¹¹
47. It can contribute up to 30 points on Interior Design and Construction projects. ¹¹
48. That is roughly double the wood-credit contribution available in prior LEED versions. ¹¹
49. Only about 10% of the world's forests are currently certified, which is why certified wood is becoming a specification priority. ¹⁰
50. Wood is rewarded in LEED v5 through credits covering building product selection and multi-attribute material sourcing, reflecting how central responsibly sourced wood now is to green building. ¹¹

Key Takeaways

The data points one direction. Demand is steady but not surging, on both the commercial and residential sides. Skilled woodworkers are scarce and getting scarcer, with employment projected to shrink even as roughly 21,400 openings a year go begging. More than nine in ten construction firms cannot fill the positions they have, and worker shortages are now the top cause of project delays. The software bar (CAD, BIM, CNC) keeps rising, concentrating work into fewer, more skilled hands.

What This Means for Millwork Shops

A2Z Millwork Design provides millwork shop drawings, CAD drafting, and CNC-ready documentation that let shops, general contractors, and architects scale output without scaling payroll, which is exactly the pressure these numbers describe.