Top Plumbing Markets: Best Counties for Plumbing Contractors
The strongest markets for plumbing contractors, ranked by permit demand. Plumbing-permit share is shown for feed-covered counties; others are ranked by overall volume and labeled.
Which counties rank highest in this list?
As of April 2026, the strongest plumbing markets by building-permit demand include Alachua, Polk, St. Lucie. Real plumbing-permit share is shown for 7 feed-covered counties; others are ranked by overall permit volume and labeled. Source: U.S. Census BPS + PermitMap permit feed.
Trade-level share is real for 7 permit-feed counties; remaining counties are ranked by overall permit volume and labeled.
Rankings — April 2026
| # | County | Plumbing share | Permits | MoM | YoY | Demand Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alachua County · FL | 16% | 242 | +130.5% | +90.6% | 67 |
| 2 | Polk County · FL | 15% | 610 | -9.5% | -20.7% | 33 |
| 3 | St. Lucie County · FL | 10% | 275 | +5.4% | -17.7% | 32 |
| 4 | Pinellas County · FL | 7% | 170 | +8.3% | +59.8% | 54 |
| 5 | Volusia County · FL | 7% | 181 | +5.2% | -17% | 29 |
| 6 | Marion County · FL | 4% | 588 | -4.9% | -11.1% | 39 |
| 7 | Sumter County · FL | 2% | 303 | -0.3% | -11.2% | 33 |
| 8 | Duval County · FL | — | 956 | +104.3% | -7.4% | 69 |
| 9 | Broward County · FL | — | 396 | +224.6% | +62.5% | 71 |
| 10 | Brazoria County · TX | — | 279 | +2.2% | -29.3% | 21 |
| 11 | Hernando County · FL | — | 175 | +15.9% | -21.2% | 32 |
| 12 | Citrus County · FL | — | 174 | +51.3% | -14% | 43 |
| 13 | Seminole County · FL | — | 160 | -31.6% | -12.4% | 13 |
| 14 | Escambia County · FL | — | 153 | -30.8% | -4.4% | 17 |
| 15 | Leon County · FL | — | 153 | +34.2% | +16% | 57 |
| 16 | Highlands County · FL | — | 64 | +16.4% | -21.6% | 29 |
| 17 | Taylor County · FL | — | 33 | +371.4% | +18.4% | 55 |
| 18 | Wakulla County · FL | — | 33 | -15.4% | +10.7% | 29 |
| 19 | Suwannee County · FL | — | 29 | +93.3% | +0% | 46 |
| 20 | Hendry County · FL | — | 25 | -28.6% | -15.6% | 9 |
| 21 | Levy County · FL | — | 23 | +43.8% | +22.6% | 57 |
| 22 | Jackson County · FL | — | 20 | +11.1% | -32.4% | 21 |
| 23 | Dixie County · FL | — | 19 | +850% | +157.1% | 61 |
| 24 | Washington County · FL | — | 19 | -36.7% | +2.8% | 17 |
| 25 | Glades County · FL | — | 18 | +260% | +66.2% | 61 |
Showing the top 25 of 42 ranked counties. Permits and month-over-month: U.S. Census Building Permits Survey (April 2026). Year-over-year: FRED. Demand Index is a modeled 0–100 composite. Dashes indicate a source did not report for that county this period.
Six-month trajectory
Total permits authorized across all tracked counties, Nov 2025 → April 2026.
| Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| 22,363 | 28,785 | 24,516 | 30,614 | 29,404 | 31,285 |
Market concentration
How concentrated demand is at the top of the ranking.
of permits in this ranking come from the top 5 counties.
Single-family share: 77% of authorized units (vs multifamily 5+).
Frequently asked questions
Which counties rank highest in this list?
As of April 2026, the strongest plumbing markets by building-permit demand include Alachua, Polk, St. Lucie. Real plumbing-permit share is shown for 7 feed-covered counties; others are ranked by overall permit volume and labeled. Source: U.S. Census BPS + PermitMap permit feed.
What is the top market right now?
Alachua County (April 2026) leads this ranking with 242 permits authorized and a Construction Demand Index of 67/100 (modeled).
How often is this updated?
Every month, when new U.S. Census Building Permits Survey data is released. Rankings, charts, and figures regenerate automatically from the same dataset that powers PermitMap's county pages and monthly intelligence editions.
Methodology & sources
Permit counts and month-over-month change come from the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (period 2026-04); year-over-year from FRED. The Construction Demand Index is a modeled 0–100 composite of volume, momentum, and year-over-year trend, labeled as modeled wherever it appears. Trade- and storm-level detail uses PermitMap's permit feed where available and overall volume elsewhere (labeled). This collection regenerates each month from the same dataset that powers PermitMap's county pages and monthly editions.
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