By sector, infrastructure projects had the longest backlog, at 10.1 months, while heavy industrial was at 9.7 months and commercial and institutional had an 8.9-month backlog. Regionally, the South had the highest backlog at 10.3 months while the West had the lowest at 7.6 months.

When measured by company size, companies with greater than $100 million in revenue had the longest backlog, at 12.3 months. Basu attributed this to the ongoing growth in data center work. “The 13% of ABC members under contract to work on data centers have significantly higher backlog [11.0 months] than the 87% that are not [8.5 months],” he said. “This trend is a noticeable headwind for smaller contractors—just 8% of contractors with less than $100 million in annual revenues have data center work under contract, well below the 41% share of contractors with greater than $100 million in annual revenues.”

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index indicates increasing material prices may be affecting contractor confidence, as the profit margins index falls to a “seven-month low.” However, said Basu, “Expectations remain above the prevailing level from the second half of 2025.”

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