The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), a leading U.S.-based trade organization representing over 23,000 contractors across 69 chapters, has unveiled its tenth annual Merit Shop Scorecard. This year, Wisconsin has earned the top spot, beating out Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Florida, who took second through fifth places, respectively.

The Merit Shop Scorecard evaluates all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on their policies and programs that support career pathways in construction, workforce development, and fair competition in taxpayer-funded projects. The rankings consider state laws, workforce development efforts, and other factors in seven key categories: project labor agreements (PLAs), prevailing wage laws, right-to-work laws, public-private partnerships, workforce development, career and technical education (CTE), and job growth rates.

Wisconsin Takes the Lead for Construction Policies

Wisconsin, a state in the Great Lakes region, frequently ranks near the top of ABC’s annual scorecard, but this year, it claimed the number one spot thanks to its favorable labor-related policies. According to ABC, “Wisconsin… takes the top spot for the highest scores on fair and open competition policies prohibiting government-mandated project labor agreements, ensuring market-driven wages on public works jobs and protecting workers with its right-to-work law.”

In addition to its strong policy framework, Wisconsin has shown impressive job growth in the construction sector, with a five-year job growth rate of 4.4%. The state also boasts a 97.4% graduation rate for students in career technical education (CTE) programs, along with a 91.4% rate of CTE students placed in careers or apprenticeship programs.

Wisconsin’s Strong Workforce Pipeline

ABC highlighted Wisconsin's effective workforce development pipeline, which meets over 100% of demand for construction labor, even amidst a nationwide shortage of skilled workers. "Wisconsin has a workforce development pipeline that delivers a construction labor supply over 100% of demand," said ABC, emphasizing the state’s ability to address the growing demand for construction labor across the country.

Other Top-Performing States

Arkansas, Florida, Arizona, and Indiana also ranked highly in the 2024 Merit Shop Scorecard. ABC noted that Florida, which was once ranked number one, continues to perform strongly across the board, thanks in part to its focus on career-centered education opportunities. “With one of the largest economies in the country and extensive labor needs, Florida has maintained a focus on innovative career-centered education opportunities, yielding positive results for craft professionals,” ABC stated.

Florida's record population growth and emphasis on workforce development have contributed to its continued high performance in the rankings.

States at the Bottom of the Scorecard

At the other end of the spectrum, ABC listed Washington, D.C., Illinois, New York, and Hawaii among the lowest-ranking states. ABC explained that these states often maintain policies that are not conducive to open shop contractors and taxpayers. "Low-performing states maintain policies unfriendly to open shop contractors and taxpayers, such as encouraging or requiring the use of government-mandated PLAs," said ABC.

Michigan, which shares borders with top-ranked Wisconsin and sixth-ranked Indiana, fell to 33rd place, primarily due to its decision to repeal right-to-work legislation earlier this year. ABC pointed out that Michigan’s decision, “to fully repeal right-to-work legislation” led to its ranking drop, making it one of the few states to reverse such a law in the past 60 years.