October 26, 2026
Construction Starts Cool, but Growth Persists
Recent declines contrast with a 14.3% increase in year-to-date activity
September offered a quiet reminder that construction rarely moves in a straight line. Total starts slipped 1.5%, according to Dodge Construction Network, but the headline figure conceals a more interesting tug of war beneath it. Commercial activity cooled sharply after a blockbuster August, with hotels, offices and factories all stepping back from the starting line. Yet schools and public works refused to follow, pushing institutional and nonbuilding starts higher and keeping the month from sliding into something worse.
The bigger picture remains striking. Nine months into the year, the market is running well ahead of last year's pace, carried largely by a wave of data center megaprojects that now dominate the list of the largest groundbreakings. For Lighting People and contractors, the signal is a market still expanding at scale, even as a handful of massive campuses swing the monthly numbers. Here are highlights from this month's Dodge Construction Network construction starts report:
Total Starts
Annual Rate
YTD Performance
Market Analysis
"Construction starts edged lower in September, but gains in institutional and nonbuilding construction helped cushion the decline. These sectors provided a counterweight to weaker commercial and single-family starts."
Sector Performance Highlights
Strong Growth Sectors
- Institutional (+16.3%): Led by a 38.4% jump in education starts, plus a 6.5% gain in miscellaneous institutional
- Parking Garages (+33.9%): One of the few bright spots in a soft commercial month
- Multifamily (+11.3%): Solid gains as apartment and condo towers moved forward
- Nonbuilding (+5.5%): Powered by a 20.8% surge in highway and bridge starts
Declining Sectors
- Commercial (-18.4%): Hotels fell 46.3% after a very strong August, while offices and data centers dropped 21.4%
- Manufacturing (-21.0%): A sharp monthly pullback in factory starts
- Healthcare (-3.0%): A modest dip within an otherwise strong institutional month
- Single Family (-7.4%): Continued weakness in new home starts
- Utilities (-4.1%): A breather after a year of explosive growth
Year-to-Date Performance (Through September 2026)
Largest Projects Breaking Ground in September
Regional Performance (Month-over-Month)
The Bigger Picture
One soft month does little to dent a remarkable year. Commercial and industrial starts are up 46.3% year to date, and commercial starts have climbed 47.7% over the trailing 12 months, fueled by the data center boom that once again claimed all three of the month's largest nonresidential groundbreakings. Institutional starts tell a different story, down 1.8% year to date despite September's strong showing, while manufacturing has edged up 3.4% over the past 12 months. On the nonbuilding side, utility and gas starts have nearly doubled over the trailing year, rising 90.8%. Residential remains the laggard, with single family starts down 7.6% over 12 months even as multifamily gained 5.3%.
Data Source: Dodge Construction Network
Construction starts are presented as seasonally adjusted annual rates to account for normal seasonal variations in building activity.
