August 2025 Nonresidential Construction starts fell to $57.7 billion, the lowest level since February.
Despite the dip, year-to-date Nonresidential spending is up nearly 13%, driven by Industrial and Commercial projects.
Data centers are setting records, with 2025 construction starts on pace to surpass $46 billion, up 55% year-over-year.
ConstructConnect announced today that the August 2025 volume of Total Nonresidential Construction Starts — the combined sum of nonresidential building and civil construction — came in at $57.7 billion, a decrease of $23.5 billion from July’s revised reading.
“The August construction starts total marked the lowest monthly volume since February and fell well below recent levels, which exceeded $80 billion for three consecutive months,” ConstructConnect Chief Economist, Michael Guckes, said.
Guckes added that the recent surge of construction starts was collectively worth $244 billion, achieving multiple historic record highs, and significantly lifting year-to-date results.
Thanks to the record-setting stretch earlier this year, year-to-date Total Nonresidential construction spending is up nearly 13% through August, compared to just 5% growth at the start of the second quarter.
Nonresidential building is driving momentum with an 18.1% year-to-date increase.
Civil construction, by contrast, has cooled from a high of 11.8% growth in March to a modest 5.4% year-to-date versus the same period in 2024.
ConstructConnect Chief Economist, Michael Guckes, said August 2025 volume of Total Nonresidential Construction Starts — the combined sum of nonresidential building and civil construction — came in at $57.7 billion, a decrease of $23.5 billion from July’s revised reading. Image: ConstructConnect Construction Economy Snapshot
The striking trend in the growth of data center projects has emerged as a force within the Nonresidential Building segment.
Guckes said, “Data centers have been the brightest of bright spots in this year’s divergent construction starts spending data through July.”
“YTD total starts of $26.88 billion on data center projects, or $3.84 billion monthly, is nearly equal to all of 2024’s spending at $29.1 billion,” Guckes added.
At the current pace, 2025 starts could surpass $46 billion, representing a 55% year-over-year increase. Data centers already account for a majority of office construction starts.
Michael Guckes, Chief Economist, ConstructConnect
Within nonresidential construction, Guckes noted that “trends have been disparate.” He pointed to these starts through August 2025:
Guckes noted that Executive actions reducing certain forms of public spending may result in a prolonged period of underwhelming infrastructure investment. He also added context for industry professionals around the economic data.
“Savvy contractors and suppliers can position themselves for success by focusing on the geographic regions and sectors where opportunities are emerging,” Guckes said. “By concentrating on those select burgeoning categories, firms can improve their operational outcomes and strengthen their profitability.”
While nonresidential construction has surged among select categories, residential construction remains in decline. Residential construction, Guckes noted, “is the only summary category that continues to report contractionary conditions,” where year-to-date spending through August saw:
Single-family starts fall 9.5%
Multifamily starts decline 7.6%
If current trends continue, 2025 will mark the third straight year of residential decline, something not seen since the Great Recession of 2008, the economist observed.
Residential construction remains in decline year-to-date through August. Image: ConstructConnect Construction Economy Snapshot
Read the Construction Economy Snapshot for more details on construction labor, trends, and regional analysis.
Construction Starts Here™ at ConstructConnect, where our mission is to help the construction industry start every project on a solid foundation. A leading provider of software solutions for the preconstruction industry, ConstructConnect empowers commercial construction firms to streamline their workflows and maximize productivity. ConstructConnect operates as a business unit of Roper Technologies (Nasdaq: ROP), a constituent of the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Fortune 1000.