Total Construction Starts Rose 0.7% in Jan. on Nonbuilding Strength

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Total Construction Starts Rose 0.7% in Jan. on Nonbuilding Strength

Boston, MA, February 23, 2026--Total construction starts expanded 0.7% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.24 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network.

Nonresidential building starts fell by 15.4%, residential starts decreased 6.4%, and nonbuilding starts grew 24.3% over the month. On a year-over-year basis, total construction starts were up 5.0% from January 2025. Nonresidential starts were down 10.3%, residential starts were down 17.0% and nonbuilding starts were up by 46.1% over the same period. For the 12 months ending January 2026, total construction starts were up 6.1% from the 12 months ending January 2025. Residential starts were down 6.0%, nonresidential starts were up 5.5% and nonbuilding was up 21.0%.  

“Nonbuilding construction remained the primary engine of growth in the first month of 2026,” stated Eric Gaus chief economist at Dodge Construction Network. “Three mega projects in the nonbuilding sector accounted for nearly $20 billion or almost half of the growth in January, which would mean total construction would have been negative without those three projects.”  

Residential building starts fell by 6.4% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $345 billion. Single family starts increased 1.5% m/m, while multifamily starts fell by 17.8% m/m. On a year-over-year basis, residential starts are down 17.0% compared to January 2025, with single family starts down 21.5% and multifamily starts down 9.2%. 

For the 12 months ending January 2026, total residential starts fell 6.0%. Single family starts fell 15.2% compared to the 12 months ending January 2025, and multifamily starts increased 13.6% over the same period.  

The largest multifamily structures to break ground in January were the $335 million 38 Gramercy Park East Condominiums in New York, New York, the $265 million Lakeview Residence in West Palm Beach, Florida and the $200 million Homestead Gateway Mixed Residential Tower in Jersey City, New Jersy.  

Nonresidential building starts decreased 15.4% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $378 billion. Commercial starts were down 27.3%, alongside a drop in offices and data centers (-52.2% m/m), parking garages (-6.7% m/m) and hotels (-17.4% m/m). Meanwhile, warehouses (+10.2% m/m) and retail starts (+6.5% m/m) posted an increase between December and January. Institutional starts declined 15.2%, driven by weaker education (-21.9% m/m) and miscellaneous institutional (-26.1% m/m) starts. This decline was partially offset by 10.5% m/m growth in healthcare facility starts. Manufacturing, meanwhile, pulled up by 97.5% in January. On a year-over-year basis, nonresidential starts are down 10.3% compared to January 2025. Commercial starts are up 14.2% and institutional starts are down 29.6% over the same period.   

For the 12 months ending January 2026, total nonresidential starts were up 5.5% compared to the 12 months ending January 2025. Commercial starts were up 19.4%, institutional starts decreased 4.4%, and manufacturing starts were up 3.5% over the same period.  

The largest nonresidential building projects to break ground in January were the $1.2 billion New York Presbyterian Cancer Center in New York, New York, the $1 billion Amkor Semiconductor Advanced Packaging (Phase 1) in Peoria, Arizona and the $714 million QTS CLT1 Data Center (Phase 1) in York, South Carolina. 

Nonbuilding construction starts grew 24.3% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $522 billion. The category was held up solely by the electric power/utilities which soared by 184.8%. However highways and bridges (-42.3% m/m), miscellaneous nonbuilding (-31.5% m/m) and environmental public works (-5.9% m/m) faced declines.  

For the 12 months ending January 2026, total nonbuilding starts were up 21.0%. Environmental public works fell by 5.3% compared to the 12 months ending January 2025. Highway and bridge starts were up 3.4%, miscellaneous nonbuilding starts were up 36.2% and utility/gas starts increased 67.9% over the same period.  

The largest nonbuilding projects to break ground in January included the $12 billion Port Arthur LNG--Liquefaction Phase 2 (Trains 3 & 4) in Port Arthur, Texas, the $6 billion Homer City Energy Campus 4.4 GW in Homer City, Pennsylvania and the $1.5 billion Tehuacana Creek 1 Solar and Battery Storage project in Navarro, Texas. 

Regionally, total construction starts in January rose in the Northeast (+32.0% m/m), the South Central (+9.6% m/m), and the South Atlantic (+2.2% m/m). Meanwhile, starts slowed down in the West (-21.1% m/m) and the Midwest (-12.6% m/m).