Las Vegas lost more construction jobs than anywhere else in the country last year, according to a new report.

Data from the Associated General Contractors of America showed the area had the biggest percentage loss, as well as overall numerical loss, of construction jobs out of the largest 360 metro areas in 2025. The valley lost a total of 8,600 jobs (tying with New York for first place), or 11 percent of its overall workforce.

This total was down from 79,200 jobs in December 2024 to 70,600 in December and Ken Simonson, the chief economist for the trade group said a number of factors and issues played into this loss for the city.

“Nevada is one of five states in which half or more of all construction trades workers in 2024 were foreign-born. That makes the state vulnerable to immigration enforcement actions affecting construction job sites or workers who may choose to leave or avoid job sites,” he said.

Nevada has the lowest rate of residents born in state (28.7 percent) according to U.S. Census Bureau numbers provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal by Brian Bonnenfant, the project manager for the Center for Regional Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. The state has the highest rate of residents born out of state (50.2 percent) and one of the highest foreign born populations in the country (21.3 percent).

Simonson said this could weigh heavily on Las Vegas’ construction industry and overall economy moving forward.

“To the extent that immigration is reduced or halted, it will also be harder to find new workers, and demand for schools, housing, retail and dining establishments, and other population-related construction will be negatively affected,” he said in an email. “A decline in foreign visitors also hits Nevada’s hotel, casino/amusement/entertainment, and retail/restaurant construction sectors harder than in many other states. For all of these reasons, I expect Nevada and the Las Vegas metro in particular will again lag other locations in construction employment in 2026.”

The Reno metro areas in Nevada came in third worst out of all the large cities for percentage loss and among the bottom 18 for numerical loss. Construction employment in the Reno area dropped about 9 percent between December 2024 to December 2025, falling to 22,300.

Among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Nevada had the worst percentage loss and fourth-worst numerical loss last year with a 9.3 percent drop. The state’s construction industry lost 10,500 jobs, from 112,300 in December 2024 to 101,800 jobs in December 2025.

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