Trades by State and County: Licensing, Jobs, Pay and Local Data
How Seayora’s pages for 23 trades in every state and county work: where the jobs, pay and business counts come from, how to read them, the federal rules and model codes they link, and why some pages are hidden from search.
Seayora publishes official figures for 23 building and property trades — electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, low-voltage installers, concrete workers, roofers, masons, carpenters, painters and more — for the whole country, every state and, for most trades, every county: how many businesses and jobs there are, what the work pays, the homes behind the work, the federal rules that apply to it and a link to each state’s official license lookup. Every page is at seayora.com/trades, in English, Spanish, French and Chinese, and says the date its figures were last updated.
Start here
- Open seayora.com/trades and choose a trade. Its page has the national jobs and pay, a table of every state and the federal rules for the work.
- Choose a state for its jobs, pay from the lowest-paid tenth to the highest-paid tenth, its contractor businesses, how it ranks among the states, its counties and the link to the US Department of Labor’s License Finder for that trade and state.
- Choose a county for its contractor businesses and their employees, how many there are for every 10,000 homes against the state, the age, type and heating of the homes there, and the places in the county.
- Follow a place to its housing page for rent, home values and the rest, or to Find a pro to book somebody who does the work.
What contractors, landlords and owners use it for
- Contractors and service pros: see where the work is — how many competing businesses there are for every 10,000 homes, how old the homes are and how they are heated — what the trade pays in your state, and which license the state requires, then get found by owners nearby on Seayora.
- Landlords and property managers: check what a trade costs to employ in your state, which federal rules apply to work on older buildings, and find a pro for the job.
- Owners: see whether a county is short of a trade before planning a renovation, and which rules a contractor working on a pre-1978 home must follow.
The trades
| Trade | Address | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Electricians | seayora.com/trades/electrical | Nation, every state, every county |
| Plumbers | seayora.com/trades/plumbing | Nation, every state, every county |
| HVAC technicians | seayora.com/trades/hvac | Nation and every state |
| Carpenters | seayora.com/trades/carpentry | Nation, every state, every county |
| Roofers | seayora.com/trades/roofing | Nation, every state, every county |
| Masons | seayora.com/trades/masonry | Nation, every state, every county |
| Concrete workers | seayora.com/trades/concrete | Nation, every state, every county |
| Painters | seayora.com/trades/painting | Nation, every state, every county |
| Flooring and tile installers | seayora.com/trades/flooring | Nation, every state, every county |
| Glaziers | seayora.com/trades/glazing | Nation, every state, every county |
| Insulation workers | seayora.com/trades/insulation | Nation, every state, every county |
| Appliance repairers | seayora.com/trades/appliance | Nation, every state, every county |
| Elevator mechanics | seayora.com/trades/elevator | Nation, every state, every county |
| Locksmiths | seayora.com/trades/locksmith | Nation, every state, every county |
| Security and fire alarm installers | seayora.com/trades/security-systems | Nation, every state, every county |
| Low-voltage and telecom installers | seayora.com/trades/low-voltage | Nation and every state |
| Janitors and cleaners | seayora.com/trades/cleaning | Nation, every state, every county |
| Landscapers | seayora.com/trades/landscaping | Nation, every state, every county |
| Pest control workers | seayora.com/trades/pest-control | Nation, every state, every county |
| Asbestos and lead abatement workers | seayora.com/trades/asbestos-lead | Nation, every state, every county |
| Solar installers | seayora.com/trades/solar | Nation and every state |
| Construction and building inspectors | seayora.com/trades/inspection | Nation, every state, every county |
| Handymen and maintenance workers | seayora.com/trades/general-maintenance | Nation, every state, every county |
HVAC technicians and low-voltage installers have no county pages: HVAC contractors are counted by the Census Bureau together with plumbing contractors under one industry code, and low-voltage work has no industry code of its own, so a county figure for either would be somebody else’s count.
Where the figures come from
- Jobs and pay: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2024, nationally and by state, read from BLS’s own published tables. Pay is published by state, not by county.
- Businesses: the US Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns for 2023 — the number of establishments with employees in the trade’s industry, their employees and their annual payroll, for the nation, every state and every county.
- The homes behind the work: the American Community Survey 5-year estimates, the same figures as the housing pages, with their margins of error.
- Licensing: the US Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop License Finder, linked for each trade and state. Seayora does not restate a state’s licenses, because they change by state, city and year.
Reading a figure
- Businesses are establishments: a company with offices in two counties is counted in each.
- Businesses without employees are not counted. The Census Bureau publishes them only for groups of trades together, so a figure for one trade would include others.
- Jobs and pay are for the occupation in every industry, so they include people employed by builders, property managers and governments as well as by contractors.
- Pay shown as “$239,200 or more” is the top of the range BLS publishes; BLS does not give a higher figure.
- A location quotient above 1 means the trade’s share of all jobs in the state is larger than its share nationally.
- Where the Census Bureau withholds a county’s employment to protect a business’s confidentiality, the page shows a dash, never a zero.
- A county is said to have more or fewer homes of a kind than its state only when the difference passes the Census Bureau’s significance test.
The federal rules on these pages
| Rule | What it requires |
|---|---|
| EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (40 CFR part 745, subpart E) | Work for pay that disturbs more than 6 square feet of paint inside, or 20 square feet outside, in a home or child-occupied facility built before 1978 must be done by an EPA- or state-certified firm, directed by a certified renovator and done with lead-safe work practices; replacing windows always counts (40 CFR part 745, subpart E). |
| EPA lead-based paint activities: abatement, inspection and risk assessment (40 CFR part 745, subpart L) | Lead abatement, lead inspections and risk assessments in pre-1978 housing must be done by individuals and firms certified by EPA or by a state EPA has authorized (40 CFR part 745, subpart L). |
| EPA refrigerant management, Clean Air Act section 608 (40 CFR part 82, subpart F) | A technician who opens an appliance’s refrigerant circuit, or who services or disposes of equipment containing refrigerant, must hold an EPA section 608 certification of the type for that equipment (40 CFR part 82, subpart F). |
| OSHA respirable crystalline silica in construction (29 CFR 1926.1153) | Cutting, grinding or drilling concrete, masonry, stone or tile exposes workers to silica, and OSHA’s construction standard sets an exposure limit and requires dust controls, a written exposure control plan and, above set levels, respirators and medical exams (29 CFR 1926.1153). |
| OSHA fall protection in construction (29 CFR part 1926, subpart M) | On a construction job, a worker 6 feet or more above a lower level must be protected by guardrails, safety nets or a personal fall arrest system, with the rules for roofs in OSHA’s fall protection standard (29 CFR part 1926, subpart M). |
| OSHA electrical safety in construction (29 CFR part 1926, subpart K) | OSHA’s construction standard for electrical work sets the rules for wiring, ground-fault protection, lockout and working near energized parts on a job site (29 CFR part 1926, subpart K). |
| OSHA scaffolds (29 CFR part 1926, subpart L) | A scaffold on a construction job must be designed, erected and inspected to OSHA’s scaffold standard, with fall protection above 10 feet (29 CFR part 1926, subpart L). |
| OSHA hazard communication (29 CFR 1910.1200) | An employer whose workers use hazardous chemicals, cleaning products among them, must keep safety data sheets, label containers and train workers under OSHA’s hazard communication standard (29 CFR 1910.1200). |
| EPA certification of pesticide applicators (40 CFR part 171) | Applying restricted-use pesticides requires certification as an applicator, granted by the state under a plan EPA approves, with the standards in 40 CFR part 171. |
| EPA asbestos NESHAP for demolition and renovation (40 CFR part 61, subpart M) | Before demolishing or renovating a commercial or apartment building (homes of four or fewer units are generally outside the rule), the owner or operator must have it inspected for asbestos, notify the state or EPA, and remove regulated asbestos with set work practices (40 CFR part 61, subpart M). |
| EPA asbestos accreditation (40 CFR part 763, subpart E) | Asbestos inspectors, abatement workers, supervisors and designers working in schools and in public and commercial buildings must be trained and accredited under EPA’s model accreditation plan, which states adopt for their own programs (40 CFR part 763, subpart E). |
| Safe Drinking Water Act lead-free plumbing (42 U.S.C. § 300g-6) | Pipes, fittings, fixtures, solder and flux installed in a drinking-water system must be “lead free” — no more than 0.25% lead across wetted surfaces and 0.2% in solder and flux (42 U.S.C. § 300g-6). |
The model codes
A model code becomes law only where a state or city adopts it, with its own edition and amendments; the local building or licensing department says which applies.
| Code | What it covers |
|---|---|
| National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) | Electrical work is inspected against the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) as each state or city has adopted it, with its own edition and amendments. |
| International Plumbing Code (ICC) and Uniform Plumbing Code (IAPMO) | Plumbing is inspected against a plumbing code adopted from one of two models, the International Plumbing Code or the Uniform Plumbing Code, with state and local amendments. |
| International Mechanical Code (ICC) and Uniform Mechanical Code (IAPMO) | Heating, cooling and ventilation work is inspected against a mechanical code adopted from the International or Uniform Mechanical Code, with state and local amendments. |
| International Residential Code and International Building Code (ICC) | Structural, roofing and finish work on homes is inspected against a building code most states and cities adopt from the International Residential Code, with their own edition and amendments. |
| National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code (NFPA 72) | Fire alarm and signaling systems are installed and tested to the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code (NFPA 72) as the state or city has adopted it. |
| Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators (ASME A17.1) | Elevators and escalators are built, maintained and inspected to the ASME A17.1 safety code as the state or city has adopted it, usually with periodic inspections by a state or city inspector. |
| International Energy Conservation Code (ICC) | Insulation, windows and air sealing in new and altered homes are inspected against an energy code most states adopt from the International Energy Conservation Code, with their own edition. |
Why some pages are missing or hidden from search
A county page exists only where the Census Bureau publishes at least 3 businesses with employees in the trade there (it publishes no count below that). A state page exists where BLS publishes the occupation or the Census Bureau counts businesses there. States are offered to search engines a few at a time, on the same schedule as the housing pages; every page can be read from the day its state is published.
What it is not
- Not legal advice. The rules are summarized from their official text, which governs, and a state or city may add requirements of its own.
- Not a list of the licenses a state requires — the License Finder link is the official list.
- Not Seayora’s own data. Seayora reproduces the agencies’ published figures and does not adjust them.
Frequently asked questions
How current are the figures?
Pay and jobs are BLS’s May 2024 estimates and business counts are the Census Bureau’s 2023 County Business Patterns, the newest each agency has published. They are reloaded when a new release comes out.
Why is pay not shown for a county?
BLS publishes occupational pay for states and metropolitan areas, not for counties, so a county page shows the state’s figure and says so.
Why does a county show fewer businesses than I expected?
County Business Patterns counts establishments with employees. A tradesperson working alone, with no employees, is not in the count.
Where do I find the license my state requires?
Each state page links the US Department of Labor’s License Finder for that trade and state, which lists every license and the agency that issues it. The local building department says which permits a job needs.
Can I read the pages in another language?
Yes. Choose Spanish, French or Chinese with the language switch at the foot of the page, or in Settings → Appearance when signed in. The figures stay unchanged.
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- NYC Electrical Code 2025: Permits, Licenses and Minor Work Rules — Guide. The 2025 NYC Electrical Code took effect December 21, 2025. Who may do electrical work, which jobs need a permit and inspection, and what counts as minor.
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