KEY POINTS
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Nonresidential Building starts rose 34.7% year to date through September, with Offices, including Data Centers, accounting for 72% of the dollar gain.
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Growth extends beyond Offices, with Nonresidential Building starts excluding Offices rose 11.2%, while Warehouses, Hospitals and Clinics, and Military construction posted gains.
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ConstructConnect forecasts modest 2027 growth in Nonresidential Building starts overall, with opportunity varying by category and geography.
Office Growth Sets the Pace, but Does Not Tell the Whole Story
There is more to construction than data centers, even if the headlines make it seem otherwise. The US data-center numbers help explain the attention, as starts totaled $135.8 billion through September 2026, up 173% from the same period a year earlier.
ConstructConnect estimates that project volume represents nearly 10 gigawatts of new power demand, which is roughly New York City’s peak electricity demand on a hot day with heavy air-conditioning use. Starts in Power Infrastructure, which includes generation, power lines and substations, rose 167.4% year to date.
The Broader US Nonresidential Market is Moving, Too
But the broader market is moving, too. Through the third quarter, 12 of 20 US Nonresidential subcategories grew faster in 2026 than the roughly 5.4% construction-inflation benchmark.
Nonresidential building starts totaled $500.2 billion, up 34.7% year to date through the end of September 2026. Offices, a category that includes Data Centers, were up 173% and supplied 72% of the increase, according to ConstructConnect’s October 2026 Construction Economy Snapshot.
That is what might be called the K-shaped construction economy. A fast-rising Office category lifting the headline while other markets advance at different speeds. Excluding Offices, Nonresidential building starts were up 11.2% year to date, 23.5 percentage points below the all-in growth rate.
The October Construction Economy Snapshot counted $6.3 billion in U.S. data center megaproject starts, those projects valued at $1 billion or more in September, across four projects, compared with $13.5 billion in August. The month-to-month swing shows how a few very large projects can move the headline. It does not, by itself, describe the wider project pipeline.
The K-shaped construction economy. Nonresidential building starts totaled $500.2 billion, up 34.7% year to date through the end of September 2026. Offices, a category that includes Data Centers, were up 173% and supplied 72% of the increase. The shaded blue section of the chart shows a forecast for Nonresidential Starts with and without Office for full-year 2026 and 2027. Image and Data: ConstructConnect Insight Forecast
What Other Building Categories are Adding to the Pipeline
Several Nonresidential building categories outside the Office surge recorded year-to-date gains through September. Warehouse starts rose 30.7%; Hospitals and Clinics, 36.3%; and Military construction, 53.4%. Education was more mixed, as starts for schools and colleges combined were up 4.4%.
The differences among the select building categories show that a strong national total does not mean every project type is expanding at the same rate.
Growth outside of the headline-grabbing data center construction starts exists in Nonresidential construction subcategories as this chart of select data shows. Image and Data: ConstructConnect
Civil construction, an adjacent market rather than part of Nonresidential Building, was up 12.4% year to date through September.
On aggregate, these figures suggest that contractors, manufacturers and other suppliers can look beyond the largest data center announcements when scanning for potential project activity.
The 2027 Outlook is Modest Overall and Uneven by Market
ConstructConnect’s 2027 US Construction Starts Forecast, compared with its projected full-year 2026 total, calls for Nonresidential Building starts to grow 3.2% with Offices and 0.7% excluding Offices.
In the wider market, Sports Arenas and Convention Centers, Shopping, Manufacturing, and Hotels are among the categories forecast to post strong growth.
Geography adds another layer.
Nonresidential Building starts excluding Offices were positive in 34 states and the District of Columbia, through September 2026.
The state-level construction starts figures show Colorado up 55.1%, Georgia up 65.3%, and Pennsylvania up 67.7%. For 2027, 28 states and the District of Columbia are projected to grow on the same excluding-Offices basis, with Indiana, Maryland and Ohio among the examples. Image and Data: ConstructConnect
A takeaway for US Nonresidential construction is to read the market at more than one level. Separate the Data Center surge from the rest of the building market, compare categories, and then test the geography against projects, product fit and the project’s specification path.
Construction starts are a useful place to look for signals, not a shortcut from headline growth to booked business.
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