March 2026 Total Nonresidential Construction Starts — the sum of Nonresidential Building and Civil Construction — were $74.6 billion, up $22.5 billion from February’s revised reading of $52.1 billion.
Megaprojects—defined as those valued at $1 billion or more—accounted for nearly one in every four dollars spent in March.
Year-to-date (YTD) Civil construction starts are now higher for the first time this year by 10.8%, or $7.3 billion.
ConstructConnect announced today that March 2026 Total Nonresidential Construction Starts — the sum of Nonresidential Building and Civil Construction — were $74.6 billion, up $22.5 billion from February’s revised reading of $52.1 billion.
March’s starts marked a considerable rebound from the prior month and nearly matched the 12-month moving average of $72.2 billion.
March’s total nonresidential reading of $72.4 billion resulted from month-on-month gains in Manufacturing, Hospitals and Clinics, and Junior and Senior High Schools.
Megaprojects—defined as those valued at $1 billion or more—played an important role in the month’s positive reading with eleven projects collectively worth $17.3 billion. As a result, megaprojects accounted for nearly one in every four dollars spent in March.
In the last 12 months, megaprojects have accounted for 23% of all nonresidential spending, down from a high of 34% last December.
Shown in an image is the Total U.S. Nonresidential Construction Starts — the combined sum of Nonresidential Building and Civil Construction — for March 2026. Total Nonresidential Construction Starts in March 2026 were $74.6 billion, up $22.5 billion from February’s revised reading of $52.1 billion. Image: ConstructConnect Construction Economy Snapshot
Civil starts ended March at $32.9 billion, almost double the revised February value of $17.8 billion.
Year-to-date (YTD) Civil starts are now higher for the first time this year by 10.8%, or $7.3 billion. The month to-month (MoM) increase was driven by an 82% increase in Roads spending, representing a gain of over $5 billion.
Following behind were All Other Civil, up $3.5 billion, and Water, Sewage and Treatment which was higher from the prior month by $2.9 billion.
Nonresidential Building at $41.7 billion was also higher by $7.4 billion or 22% from February, yet down 1% from a year ago. The biggest YTD dollar gains have come from increased Offices and data centers starts, which are now at $48.9 billion, representing a gain of $38.7 billion and a near quadrupling of comparable starts from the same period in 2025.
Additional subcategories supporting the growth in nonresidential building include Hospitals, Hotels, Prisons, and several forms of educational construction.
In contrast, the biggest dollar declines through March have come from Manufacturing and Sports and Convention Centers.
Michael Guckes, Chief Economist, ConstructConnect
Shown in an image of the best-performing and underperforming large-dollar categories from the Total U.S. Nonresidential Construction Starts for March 2026. Image: ConstructConnect Construction Economy Snapshot
March’s residential starts further extended the lengthy weakness that has been evident for some time now in the housing market.
Total Residential YTD activity is down $20.7 billion, or 27%. This decline is nearly evenly split between single and multifamily homes.
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