Arizona vs Pennsylvania: contractor markets, side by side
Arizona has 43,106 active licensed contractors across the trades we cover; Pennsylvania has 8,539 — about 5× more licensed contractors. Counts come from the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) and the Philadelphia L&I + Pittsburgh Permits; market figures are U.S. Census aggregates.
| Arizona | Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|---|
| Active licensed contractors | 43,106 | 8,539 |
| Licenses per 10k residents | 60.1 | 6.1 |
| Residents | 7,173,962 | 13,983,292 |
| Households | 3,098,364 | 6,205,690 |
| Median household income | $76,830 | $78,687 |
| Building permits (2025) | 51,532 | 25,709 |
| Top city by licenses | Phoenix | — |
Arizona is the denser market: 60.1 active licenses per 10k residents against 6.1 in Pennsylvania. Density cuts both ways — more contractors to sell to per square mile, and more competition per job for the contractors themselves.
Household income runs higher in Pennsylvania — $78,687 median against $76,830 in Arizona — which generally shows up in project budgets and ticket sizes.
Trade by trade
| Trade | Arizona | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|
| Electricians | 5,220 | 1,707 |
| Plumbers | 3,414 | 663 |
| HVAC Contractors | 4,254 | 238 |
| General Contractors | 15,689 | 5,654 |
| Roofing Contractors | 1,467 | — |
| Landscape Contractors | 2,064 | — |
| Pool Contractors | 742 | — |
| Fire-Protection Contractors | 360 | 114 |
| Carpenters | 2,300 | — |
| Concrete Contractors | 1,061 | — |
| Masons | 408 | — |
| Drywall Contractors | 862 | — |
| Tile Contractors | 830 | — |
| Excavating Contractors | 1,079 | 163 |
| Painters | 2,117 | — |
| Flooring Contractors | 1,239 | — |
Counts are active licenses only, from each state's license board. A “—” means that board doesn't issue a statewide license for the trade, not that the trade doesn't exist there.