Florida vs Pennsylvania: contractor markets, side by side
Florida has 108,645 active licensed contractors across the trades we cover; Pennsylvania has 8,539 — about 13× more licensed contractors. Counts come from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) and the Philadelphia L&I + Pittsburgh Permits; market figures are U.S. Census aggregates.
| Florida | Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|---|
| Active licensed contractors | 108,645 | 8,539 |
| Licenses per 10k residents | 50.2 | 6.1 |
| Residents | 21,634,506 | 13,983,292 |
| Households | 9,915,946 | 6,205,690 |
| Median household income | $71,602 | $78,687 |
| Building permits (2025) | 178,297 | 25,709 |
| Top city by licenses | Miami | — |
Florida is the denser market: 50.2 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 $71,602 in Florida — which generally shows up in project budgets and ticket sizes.
Trade by trade
| Trade | Florida | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|
| Electricians | 13,814 | 1,707 |
| Plumbers | 8,257 | 663 |
| HVAC Contractors | 13,544 | 238 |
| General Contractors | 58,081 | 5,654 |
| Roofing Contractors | 9,917 | — |
| Solar Contractors | 431 | — |
| Pool Contractors | 4,601 | — |
| Fire-Protection Contractors | — | 114 |
| Excavating Contractors | 2,570 | 163 |
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.