Nonresidential construction spending is a critical economic indicator that measures the total value of spending on buildings other than homes. For contractors in North and South Carolina, understanding the latest trends in nonresidential construction spending is essential for strategic planning, bidding, and cash flow management. This article is designed specifically for Carolinas contractors, project managers, estimators, and business owners who need actionable insights into the current market landscape.
In this comprehensive guide, we will cover the latest U.S. Census Bureau data on nonresidential construction spending, explain what the numbers mean for your business, and provide practical strategies for navigating the evolving market in late 2026. We’ll break down the differences between private and public nonresidential construction, highlight which segments are expanding or contracting, and offer targeted recommendations for backlog management, risk pricing, and business development.
Nonresidential construction spending includes commercial and industrial categories, with private spending covering offices, retail, lodging, health care, and manufacturing plants, and public spending including highways, streets, educational facilities, and sewer systems. This metric not only tracks the construction of public and private buildings but also signals broader economic trends, business confidence, and job creation. With nonresidential construction spending reaching $1.25 trillion in April 2026, its impact on the Carolinas’ economy and your business outlook has never been more significant.
Whether you’re a general contractor, specialty trade, or supplier, this article will help you interpret the latest data, understand its implications, and position your company for success in a market that is still moving—but no longer accelerating across the board.
Nonresidential construction spending is more than just a monthly statistic—it’s a vital economic indicator for contractors and the broader economy. Here’s why it matters:
By tracking nonresidential construction spending, Carolinas contractors can better anticipate market shifts, align their business strategies, and make informed decisions about where to focus resources.
The April 2026 U.S. Census Bureau data shows a national nonresidential construction market that is still moving, but no longer accelerating broadly. For North and South Carolina contractors, the signal is clear: read beyond the top-line construction spending number and position for the segments where backlog quality, owner funding, and cash flow are strongest.
Nonresidential construction spending measures the total value of money spent on building structures other than homes. The latest U.S. Census Bureau “value put in place” report shows nonresidential construction spending in April 2026 at $1.25 trillion, up only 0.1% from March. That is not a collapse. It is also not a broad-based expansion. For contractors, estimators, owners, and builders in the Carolinas, the number is best read as a signal of slowing momentum.
The key phrase is seasonally adjusted annual rate. In plain terms, a seasonally adjusted annual rate takes one month of activity, adjusts it for normal seasonal patterns, and expresses it as if that pace continued for a full year. That helps executives compare April to March, January, December, or any other month without overreacting to weather, holidays, or typical seasonal loading in construction work.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau construction spending release, these monthly estimates are based on reported construction put in place. That means the data measures the total dollar value of work installed or paid for during the month, not necessarily new awards, signed contracts, or projects sitting in preconstruction.
This distinction matters.
Nonresidential construction spending includes commercial and industrial categories, with private spending covering offices, retail, lodging, health care, and manufacturing plants, and public spending including highways, streets, educational facilities, and sewer systems. The Census Bureau measures the value associated with new structures, improvements, and work on existing structures, providing the industry with a broad but lagging view of real activity.
In April, 10 of 16 nonresidential subcategories gained. That is the most useful clue in the report: the market is mixed. Some categories are still expanding, while others are posting declines.
Here is the core split:
| April 2026 indicator | Direction | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Total nonresidential construction spending | Up 0.1% | Market is flattening, not surging |
| Public construction spending | Up 0.4% | Public owners remain a stabilizer |
| Private construction spending | Down 0.2% | Private demand is weakening outside select niches |
| Private nonresidential activity | Down seven straight months | Financing and demand pressures are visible |
| Data center spending | $50.7 billion, up 28.1% year over year | Mission-critical work is the private-sector bright spot |
| The headline total dollar number is useful. But the underlying mix is where Carolina contractors should focus. |
With this context in mind, let’s examine how the split between private and public spending is shaping the market.
The market is now operating at two speeds. Private nonresidential construction is weakening, while public construction spending is still growing modestly. For firms chasing backlog into the back half of 2026, that split may be more important than the national total.
Private spending includes offices, retail, lodging, health care, and manufacturing plants. Public spending includes highways, streets, educational facilities, and sewer systems.
Private nonresidential construction has declined for seven consecutive months through April 2026. Spending in that category is now nearly 8% below its December 2023 high. That usually signals more caution from developers, lenders, and owners in interest-rate-sensitive categories such as:
This does not mean every private project is weak. It does mean private construction is becoming more selective. Owners are moving forward where demand is clear, financing is secure, and returns are less speculative.
By contrast, public construction spending rose 0.4% in April. Public nonresidential work is being supported by federal infrastructure packages, state transportation programs, K–12 and higher education bonds, water and wastewater upgrades, and local government facility improvements.
For North Carolina and South Carolina firms, that creates a practical portfolio question:
How much of your backlog depends on private commercial owners who may pause, reprice, or cancel projects?
ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu has repeatedly emphasized that backlog strength can vary sharply by sector, region, and firm size. The ABC Construction Backlog Indicator has shown relative strength, with infrastructure, industrial, and large-scale institutional projects dominating the pipeline, a message reinforced by ABC Carolinas leadership and organizational collaboration. That reinforces what the Census numbers suggest: backlog is not just about months on paper. It is about the owner’s reliability, the contract structure, and the sector in which the work is performed.
This is where ABC Carolinas members should add discipline. Rebalance toward public owners where appropriate, keep relationships active with private clients, and avoid treating every pursuit as equally bankable.
As we move forward, let’s focus on the segments that are outperforming the broader market, starting with data centers.
April 2026 Census Bureau data shows national data center construction spending at $50.7 billion. That is up 28.1% over the past 12 months, making data centers one of the fastest-growing nonresidential segments in America.
This number deserves special attention because data centers are now reported as a distinct line item under private construction rather than buried within the broader office category. That improves visibility. It also reveals how much data center strength is masking weakness in other private categories.
The growth is being led by:
For contractors, this is not ordinary office construction. Data centers are mission-critical facilities with demanding schedules, complex MEP systems, backup power, cooling infrastructure, commissioning requirements, and strict safety expectations.
The Carolinas are directly tied to this trend. The North Carolina data center corridor around the Triangle, Charlotte, and western counties is a major regional growth engine. North Carolina had roughly 800 MW of data center capacity as of December 2025, and the state’s data center economic contribution has grown sharply in recent years.
For a deeper regional read, see our dedicated North Carolina data centers article and the Strategic Planning in Construction outlook hub.
The opportunity is real, but it is not automatic. Contractors need to understand utility capacity, local permitting risks, grid concerns, water-use scrutiny, and community opposition. In some North Carolina jurisdictions, local moratoria and regulatory review are becoming more common. That does not erase demand, but it can affect timing, approvals, and cash-flow planning.
With data centers leading the way, let’s look at how the national numbers translate to the Carolinas market as a whole.
The Census Bureau data is national, but ABC Carolinas members must interpret it in light of the region’s own growth patterns. North and South Carolina are not a mirror image of the full U.S. market. The Carolinas have a distinctive mix of advanced manufacturing, logistics, ports, energy infrastructure, healthcare, higher education, and data center development.
The strongest local pipelines are currently concentrated in:
At the same time, the Carolinas are not immune to national weakness. Traditional multi-tenant office, discretionary retail, and speculative commercial space are under more pressure. Financing costs are higher, tenant demand is more selective, and owners are taking longer to make final investment decisions.
That contrast matters for estimators. A private and public mix that looked balanced in 2023 may not be balanced in 2026. The private and public sectors are moving in different directions, and firms that track only top-line construction spending may miss the shift.
ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu’s analysis of backlog conditions points to the same conclusion: regional backlog remains healthier where industrial, infrastructure, and publicly funded work are driving pipelines. Smaller firms concentrated in tenant improvement, retail, or speculative office may see shorter backlog and more bid pressure than firms tied to infrastructure, power, or data center campuses.
For general contractors and specialty trades, the practical takeaway is simple: the Carolinas market is still attractive, but the best opportunities are more concentrated than they were two years ago.
Next, let’s break down the outlook for each major nonresidential segment in the Carolinas.
This section offers a targeted rundown of which nonresidential construction segments are expanding, holding steady, or contracting in North and South Carolina heading into the back half of 2026.
Data centers remain the clearest growth segment. Spending is rising nationally, and the North Carolina corridor continues to attract major investment from technology, cloud, finance, and enterprise users.
What it means for contractors:
This is a sector where merit shop contractors can compete well if they have the workforce, training, safety culture, and project controls to meet owner expectations.
Manufacturing has softened nationally from earlier peaks, especially where incentive-driven megaprojects are maturing. Still, the Carolinas remain competitive for advanced manufacturing, automotive, battery, aerospace, and supply-chain-related facilities.
Outlook: steady growth in select submarkets, but not uniformly strong.
Estimators should separate funded industrial projects from speculative announcements. Some projects will move quickly. Others may be delayed by financing, infrastructure availability, or uncertainty about incentives.
Highway construction, bridge work, utility upgrades, water systems, and civil infrastructure remain among the more reliable categories. NCDOT, SCDOT, federal-backed programs, and local infrastructure needs continue to support activity.
Outlook: steady to modestly growing.
The risk is not demand. The risk is cost. Asphalt, diesel, steel, rebar, and other inputs have been volatile. Contractors need escalation protection and careful procurement planning.
Healthcare systems and universities continue to invest in facilities, modernization, specialty care, research, and campus improvements. These projects often have stronger owner credit quality than speculative private commercial work.
Outlook: stable, with pockets of growth.
These jobs can support backlog quality, but they often require disciplined preconstruction, phasing around active facilities, and strict safety coordination.
Schools, public safety facilities, courthouses, municipal buildings, and other public sectors work remain important stabilizers. Bond programs and local capital plans are helping keep work moving.
Outlook: steady.
Public work can be less exposed to private lending cycles, but contractors must manage payment timing, documentation, compliance, and bid competition.
Office remains one of the most challenged private nonresidential categories. Remote and hybrid work patterns, tenant uncertainty, and financing costs continue to weigh on demand.
Outlook: flat to down.
Interior renovations and adaptive reuse may still create opportunities, but new speculative office work should be screened carefully.
Retail and hospitality are sensitive to consumer demand, interest rates, and owner balance sheets. Some projects will still move in high-growth Carolina submarkets, but discretionary work is more vulnerable to delay.
Outlook: flat to slightly down.
Contractors should verify financing, tenant commitments, and payment terms before chasing thin-margin work.
Warehouse demand remains important in the Carolinas, especially near ports and logistics corridors. But speculative distribution has cooled from its earlier surge.
Outlook: mixed.
Build-to-suit and port-linked logistics remain stronger than purely speculative bulk space.
With the segment outlook in mind, let’s turn to the practical implications for bidding, backlog, and cash flow management.
The April nonresidential construction spending report should not sit in a folder. It should change how contractors qualify pursuits, price risk, and plan cash flow.
Focus business development on owners and sectors with expanding or resilient pipelines:
At the same time, apply tighter screens to soften private commercial work. Ask:
A full backlog is not always a healthy backlog.
Recent input-cost trends are pressuring contractors. Nonresidential construction input prices rose sharply in April, with year-over-year increases around 7% in many measures. Energy and metals have been major drivers, including diesel, asphalt, steel mill products, fabricated structural metal, aluminum, copper, and rebar.
Bid prices have not fully kept pace. That gap squeezes margins, especially on fixed-price work.
Contractors should consider:
Groups such as the Associated General Contractors have also warned that material and energy volatility is forcing contractors to rethink pricing assumptions. ABC Carolinas members should not wait until margin erosion appears in the job-cost report.
Mixed markets create cash-flow traps. A firm can have work under contract and still be strained by slow pay, early mobilization costs, retainage, material deposits, and stretched schedules.
Before mobilizing, review:
Large public jobs can provide steady revenue visibility, but they may also require careful staging. Longer-duration infrastructure work should be balanced with shorter-cycle projects that support liquidity.
Estimators, project managers, and finance leaders should not operate from separate assumptions. The bid schedule must match real labor, equipment, material, and bonding capacity.
For example, a contractor chasing data center packages, school work, and highway construction in the same quarter must know whether the same crews, supervisors, and equipment are being counted twice.
A practical monthly review should include:
If your dashboard has one page for backlog and another for cash flow, connect them. If project files are updated in June from the April release, schedule a July review before the next major bid wave. A delayed click, missed email, or slow-loading report should not be the reason leadership misses a market turn.
With these strategies in place, let’s look at how ABC Carolinas supports members as they navigate the nonresidential cycle.
ABC Carolinas is a regional merit shop trade association serving commercial and nonresidential construction firms across North and South Carolina. Our role is to help members turn economic indicators into practical business decisions, supported by construction growth and member resources across the Carolinas.
That includes interpreting Census Bureau spending reports, ABC Construction Backlog Indicator updates, workforce trends, regulatory changes, and market intelligence through the lens of Carolina contractors.
ABC Carolinas supports members through construction safety, networking, and educational events:
The goal is not just to understand spending data. The goal is to help members win work, staff work, deliver work, and protect profitability.
The merit shop philosophy of Associated Builders and Contractors matters in this environment. When markets become uneven, firms need flexibility, training, accountability, and a strong safety culture. ABC Carolinas helps members build those advantages.
Members can use the Strategic Planning in Construction outlook hub to evaluate where to chase backlog, how to balance exposure between private and public construction spending, and how to prepare for shifting nonresidential demand.
As you consider your next moves, let’s outline the most important action steps for Carolinas contractors heading into late 2026.
The next 6–12 months should be about moving from insight to implementation. The April 2026 construction spending data gives contractors a useful early warning: the market is still producing opportunities, but not every opportunity carries the same risk.
Do not stop at total backlog months. Break backlog into:
Then compare that exposure to national spending trends using ABC analysis to prioritize segments by backlog quality, demand, and economic impact. Data center, manufacturing, and commercial exposures should be included in that review rather than judged only from the total backlog. If too much of your backlog sits in softening private nonresidential categories, begin building relationships in more resilient markets now.
Not every contractor needs to become a data center specialist. But many firms can participate in related work, including site development, concrete, electrical, mechanical, utility, security, road, and support infrastructure.
Start by identifying:
ABC Carolinas training, networking, and education programs can help firms understand the expectations before they bid.
Public construction spending is a stabilizer in this cycle. Contractors should deepen relationships with:
These relationships take time. Start before the project is advertised.
Do not let last year’s assumptions control this year’s pricing. Material volatility, labor shortages, financing delays, and owner uncertainty should be reflected in how contractors bid, qualify, and negotiate.
The best firms will remain competitive without giving away risk they cannot control.
ABC Carolinas exists to help members navigate cycles like this one. Through ABC Carolinas membership programs, outlook events, advocacy, workforce development, and the Strategic Planning in Construction hub, contractors can refine bidding targets, workforce plans, and capital investments for the back half of 2026, and interested firms can begin that process through the ABC Carolinas membership application.
The firms that win in late 2026 will not be the ones that chase every job. They will be the firms that understand which segments are expanding, which are contracting, and how to align backlog with cash flow.
The Census Bureau publishes monthly construction spending reports, typically on the first business day of each month. The release includes updated figures for total construction, private construction, public construction, and nonresidential categories. Because the figures are seasonally adjusted, they help contractors compare one month to another without overreacting to normal seasonal swings.
Nonresidential construction is the broader category. It includes commercial buildings such as offices, retail centers, and warehouses, as well as manufacturing, healthcare, education, transportation, water, power, highway construction, public safety, and government facilities.
Commercial construction usually refers more narrowly to income-producing buildings such as offices, retail, hospitality, and some warehouse projects.
Private nonresidential activity is under pressure from higher interest rates, tighter lending standards, and weaker demand in traditional office and retail sectors, as well as in speculative development. Data centers are different. They are benefiting from demand for AI, cloud computing, digital security, and hyperscale infrastructure.
That makes data centers a major exception within private construction spending.
Start as a qualified partner rather than trying to lead the most complex scopes immediately. Many firms can enter through sitework, concrete, electrical support, mechanical support, utility work, access roads, fencing, commissioning support, or other defined packages.
Contractors should invest in training, safety systems, documentation, and relationships with experienced general contractors. ABC Carolinas education, apprenticeship, safety, and networking programs can help members prepare for mission-critical owner expectations.
ABC Carolinas maintains the Strategic Planning in Construction outlook hub, which includes regional briefings, economic updates, and planning resources. Members can also attend in-person and virtual economic forecast events featuring ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu and other industry leaders.
For firms making bidding, staffing, and capital decisions, the best next step is to connect with ABC Carolinas through chapter contact channels and use the latest data to turn market movement into a practical plan.
