The Top 20 K-12 School Construction Contractors in 2026

Twenty general contractors and construction managers reported a combined $12.4 billion in K-12 school revenue for 2025, according to Building Design+Construction's newest sector ranking. The top five account for $6.0 billion of that, or about 49 percent.

School work is local and usually public, which makes it one of the more open markets for subcontractors. Below is who the 20 largest school builders are, where they are based, what they have been building, and how each one says it qualifies trade partners.

How We Ranked Them

The source is BD+C's Top 100 K-12 School Construction Firms for 2026, published September 4, 2026, as part of the 2026 Giants 400 Report. The measure is 2025 K-12 school facility revenue.

The rank order below follows that table exactly, positions 1 through 20, with no firms added, dropped or reordered.

A few honest caveats:

• The revenue figures are supplied by the firms themselves. BD+C's 2026 Giants 400 methodology note says the charts are "based on information supplied by the respective firms," and we did not audit them. Satterfield & Pontikes ($550 million) and Lee Lewis ($500 million) reported round numbers, which suggests estimates.
• The same note says sector data labeled "Construction" includes all delivery methods combined: GC, design-build, CM at risk, IPD, CM agent and program management.
• Some figures include joint-venture work, so the same school can show up in two firms' totals.
• The list is a 2025 revenue snapshot. For context, we also pulled last year's table, BD+C's Top 115 K-12 School Construction Firms for 2025, which ranked firms by 2024 revenue.
• Headquarters, projects and prequalification details come from company websites, districts or local press, linked inline. Where we couldn't verify a project, we left it out.

The Ranking at a Glance

Rank	Contractor	HQ	2025 K-12 school revenue
1	CORE Construction Group	Frisco, TX	$1.53B
2	Pogue Construction	McKinney, TX*	$1.32B
3	Gilbane Building Company	Providence, RI*	$1.28B
4	Joeris General Contractors	San Antonio, TX	$989.1M
5	Bartlett Cocke General Contractors	San Antonio, TX*	$914.8M
6	Balfour Beatty US	Dallas, TX*	$859.7M
7	Satterfield & Pontikes Construction	Houston, TX	$550.0M
8	Lee Lewis Construction	Lubbock, TX*	$500.0M
9	Barton Malow Holdings	Southfield, MI	$486.8M
10	JE Dunn Construction	Kansas City, MO	$429.9M
11	The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company	Baltimore, MD	$419.9M
12	C.W. Driver Companies	Pasadena, CA	$403.6M
13	Nabholz	Conway, AR*	$400.3M
14	Turner Construction	New York, NY	$358.5M
15	Shawmut Design and Construction	Boston, MA*	$344.5M
16	Skanska USA	New York, NY	$341.5M
17	Swinerton	Concord, CA*	$340.2M
18	CHASSE Building Team	Tempe, AZ*	$335.6M
19	Suffolk	Boston, MA*	$307.2M
20	STO Building Group	New York, NY	$253.0M

Source: BD+C 2026 Giants 400, Top 100 K-12 School Construction Firms (2025 revenue, supplied by the firms). *The firm's site does not label a headquarters; we list the office it names first or describes as its home base. Details in each entry.

The Top Five: $900 Million and Up

1. CORE Construction Group (Frisco, TX)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $1,525,589,518. That is up from $1,211,889,018 in 2024 revenue on BD+C's 2025 table, where CORE also ranked first. CORE's contact page lists "CORE Headquarters" at 6320 Research Rd. in Frisco.

Recent school work: In a September 2024 post, CORE covered St. Lucie Public Schools' groundbreaking for Fort Pierce Westwood Academy High School in Florida, which was set to open in January 2026. In Nevada, the Lyon County School District board approved CORE as construction manager at risk for a Fernley High School entry and culinary project, the Fernley Reporter wrote on November 6, 2025, with work planned for the summer 2026 break.

For subs: CORE's trade partners page says the firm has moved prequalification to COMPASS. Partners complete the COMPASS 1Form and keep their QScore current.

2. Pogue Construction (McKinney, TX)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $1,319,820,000, up from $888,000,000 on last year's table. Pogue's contact page lists offices in McKinney, Fort Worth, Houston and Austin without labeling a headquarters. McKinney, at 1512 Bray Central Drive, is listed first.

Recent school work: On November 3, 2025, Pogue announced completion of Richland High School for Prosper ISD, a $270 million, 573,000-square-foot campus it delivered as construction manager at risk. Pogue has also broken ground on Northwest ISD's High School #4, a 730,000-square-foot school for about 3,200 students that is planned to open in August 2027.

For subs: Pogue's bids page says its public plan room runs on BuildingConnected. We did not find a published prequalification process on its site.

3. Gilbane Building Company (Providence, RI)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $1,275,594,000. Gilbane's locations page lists its Providence office at 7 Jackson Walkway but does not label a headquarters, and its about page traces the company to 1870.

School work: Gilbane announced it was selected as construction manager for three Connecticut K-12 projects. They include the new Norwalk High School, for about 2,000 students, slated for completion by February 2027, and the 260,000-square-foot Bullard Havens Technical High School in Bridgeport, for about 1,000 students, slated for completion by May 2026. That announcement is older, and we could not confirm a newer Gilbane school milestone.

For subs: Gilbane's become-a-subcontractor page uses COMPASS by Bespoke Metrics. It lists financial statements, your EMR, OSHA 300/300A forms, bank, bonding and insurance references, and project references.

4. Joeris General Contractors (San Antonio, TX)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $989,113,455. Joeris lists its corporate office at 823 Arion Parkway, San Antonio, on its contact page.

Recent school work: Joeris's project page for Liberty Hill ISD's Legacy Ranch High School describes a new 454,000-square-foot high school with capacity for 1,000 to 1,200 students and a May 2026 completion. For New Braunfels ISD, Joeris lists a 196,000-square-foot replacement high school (Phase 1) completed in June 2025.

For subs: The trade partners page links to a bid schedule on BuildingConnected and refers questions to the estimating department.

5. Bartlett Cocke General Contractors (San Antonio, TX)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $914,823,866. Bartlett Cocke's about page describes San Antonio as its "home base," with regional offices in Austin and Houston.

School work: The firm's K-12 page lists Moe and Gene Johnson High School for Hays CISD in Buda, a 413,875-square-foot CM-at-risk project designed for 2,250 students. The page gives no completion date.

For subs: Bartlett Cocke's trade partners page publishes tiers. Every vendor sends a W-9 and a sample insurance certificate. For contracts over $250,000, add an EMR letter from your carrier, OSHA 300A reports for the last three reporting periods and a recent project list. For contracts over $750,000, add a bonding reference letter with aggregate and per-project limits, and three years of third-party financial statements, with the most recent within six months.

Ranks 6 to 10: $425 Million to $860 Million

6. Balfour Beatty US (Dallas, TX)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $859,719,135. Balfour Beatty's contact page lists a Dallas office at 3100 McKinnon Street but does not label a headquarters.

Recent school work: Balfour Beatty built Roseville City School District's Winding Creek Elementary School in Roseville, California. The firm's August 11, 2026 post describes an approximately 50,000-square-foot campus for up to 650 students, finished ahead of schedule and on budget. In Oregon, Balfour Beatty company Howard S. Wright will deliver bond-funded renovations for the Oregon City, David Douglas and Tigard-Tualatin school districts, the firm said on August 24, 2026.

For subs: Per the trade partners page, Balfour Beatty has collected prequalification data through TradeTapp since March 13, 2023.

7. Satterfield & Pontikes Construction (Houston, TX)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $550,000,000. The contact page lists its main office at 11000 Equity Drive, Houston.

Recent school work: Satterfield & Pontikes broke ground on a multi-use facility at Galena Park ISD's North Shore Senior High, a 94,454-square-foot building per a later beam-signing post. The posts give spring 2027 and fall 2027 as completion targets. The firm also covered the ribbon cutting for Sheldon ISD's C.E. King High School 9th and 10th grade campus, which spans more than 330,000 square feet for 2,222 students.

For subs: The trade partners page says the firm uses the BuildingConnected network for subcontractor prequalification and bidding.

8. Lee Lewis Construction (Lubbock, TX)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $500,000,000. Lee Lewis's home page lists offices in Lubbock, at 7810 Orlando Avenue, Dallas and San Angelo, without labeling a headquarters.

Recent school work: On July 21, 2026, the firm posted about the topping out of Midland ISD's Midland High School. In August 2026, it posted about the ribbon cutting at Henrietta ISD's new high school, designed by WRA Architects.

For subs: The trade partners page names COMPASS as its prequalification platform and says current partners upload required documents through Pantera.

9. Barton Malow Holdings (Southfield, MI)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $486,807,261. Barton Malow's Southfield page is labeled "Our Headquarters," at 26500 American Drive.

School work: We did not find a dated 2024 to 2026 school milestone on a page we could open. The firm's project pages include K-12 campus improvements for Warren Local Schools in Ohio, a $45 million construction management job covering 200,000 square feet, including an 80,000-square-foot new elementary school.

For subs: The subcontractors and vendors page says Barton Malow uses BuildingConnected for all bidding and prequalification. It asks for prior-year audited or reviewed financials, three years of OSHA 300/300A logs and EMR letters, a safety manual, a bonding letter and insurance certificates.

10. JE Dunn Construction (Kansas City, MO)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $429,877,447. JE Dunn's Kansas City page identifies it as headquarters, at 1001 Locust Street.

School work: JE Dunn's public project and news pages did not surface a K-12 project we could verify, so we are not listing one rather than guessing.

For subs: The trade partners page says prequalification is required and runs through TradeTapp.

Ranks 11 to 15: $340 Million to $420 Million

11. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (Baltimore, MD)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $419,927,005. Whiting-Turner's contact page lists its headquarters at 300 East Joppa Road, Baltimore.

Recent school work: Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland set a $67 million maximum construction price for Elementary School #41, an 882-seat school scheduled to open in August 2026, the Frederick News-Post reported in May 2025. Whiting-Turner is construction manager.

For subs: The prequalification page runs through BuildingConnected, posts a sample questionnaire.

12. C.W. Driver Companies (Pasadena, CA)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $403,590,000. C.W. Driver's contact page lists its corporate headquarters at 468 North Rosemead Blvd., Pasadena.

Recent school work: On May 28, 2025, C.W. Driver broke ground on a $175 million modernization at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, which includes a new 65,000-square-foot career technical education building and is scheduled for completion in December 2027. On September 9, 2026, it broke ground as general contractor on the $74 million second phase of the Malibu Middle and High School campus, about 40,000 square feet in two buildings, with completion expected in late 2028.

For subs: The build-with-us page says C.W. Driver manages subcontractor prequalification in BuildingConnected, asks for current financial statements and work in progress, and repeats the process annually.

13. Nabholz (Conway, AR)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $400,344,786. Nabholz calls Conway its home office in a December 2025 release on the topping out of its new Conway home office.

Recent school work: A July 14, 2026 roundup of school projects from Arkansas Money & Politics lists Nabholz as construction manager on the new $73 million Wynne High School, targeted for August 2027, and the $60 million North Little Rock Middle School campus renovation, targeted for February 2029.

For subs: The trade contractors page asks new partners to complete an online prequalification questionnaire on BuildingConnected.

14. Turner Construction (New York, NY)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $358,464,455. Turner's locations page lists headquarters at 66 Hudson Boulevard East, New York.

Recent school work: In April 2025, Turner began work on the $150 million New Frayser Community High School in Memphis, a 270,000-square-foot school for 1,500 students. In Greenwich, Connecticut, Turner was selected to build Central Middle School, a 135,000-square-foot school with an expected budget of $112 million. Construction Owners reported the school complete in September 2026, with Turner providing construction management services.

For subs: Turner's subcontractor page runs prequalification for U.S. and Canadian companies through a Vertikal portal. Uploads include your EMR, a three-year safety history, a financial statement, a line-of-credit letter and a surety letter showing project and aggregate limits.

15. Shawmut Design and Construction (Boston, MA)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $344,535,677. Shawmut's locations page lists Boston first among its offices but does not label a headquarters.

Recent school work: Shawmut broke ground on the new $326 million Pawtucket High School in Rhode Island, on the site of the former McCoy Stadium, New England Construction reported in 2025. The 375,000-square-foot school will serve about 2,100 students, with completion anticipated in December 2028.

For subs: Shawmut's qualification requirements, linked from its subcontractors page, ask every sub to complete its Partner Qualification system. Send a surety letter with per-project and aggregate capacity, two years of audited financials, a three-year EMR letter, your safety manual and line-of-credit details.

Ranks 16 to 20: $250 Million to $345 Million

16. Skanska USA (New York, NY)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $341,462,631. Skanska's U.S. about page says it runs 28 U.S. offices with headquarters in New York City, at the Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue.

School work: In June 2024, School Construction News reported that Skanska delivered two Hillsborough County Public Schools projects in Florida: a $47 million Collins PK-8 conversion with a new 70,000-square-foot classroom building, and a $12 million upgrade to Chamberlain High School's athletic complex.

For subs: Skanska's USA Building partner page lays out three steps: join BuildingConnected and follow Skanska, prequalify with USA Building, then watch for project opportunities.

17. Swinerton (Concord, CA)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $340,193,703. Swinerton's site does not label a headquarters. Its Concord office is at 2001 Clayton Road, and the home page describes the company as employee-owned.

School work: BD+C illustrated this year's K-12 ranking with Compton High School in California, "designed by DLR Group and built by Swinerton." Swinerton's project page lists its role as general contracting, and School Construction News described the school in July 2025 as a $225 million, 223,650-square-foot campus for Compton Unified.

For subs: Per Swinerton's prequalification page, subs must be prequalified to be awarded a contract, and applications start through a CMiC registration link. The page asks for a financial statement, a letter of bondability, OSHA 300/300A logs and a three-year EMR history, and says an EMR of 1.25 or higher needs an explanation letter.

18. CHASSE Building Team (Tempe, AZ)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $335,625,658. CHASSE's home page lists a Tempe office at 230 S Siesta Lane and a Tucson office, without labeling a headquarters.

Recent school work: On May 19, 2026, CHASSE broke the wall on Phase 2 of Millennium High School for the Agua Fria High School District in Goodyear, Arizona, adding more than 45,000 square feet of new educational space, with work scheduled through March 2028.

For subs: We did not find a subcontractor or prequalification page on CHASSE's site.

19. Suffolk (Boston, MA)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $307,200,000. Suffolk's site does not label a headquarters. Its Boston page says "Boston is where it all started for us" and lists 65 Allerton Street.

School work: We did not find a dated 2024 to 2026 school milestone. Suffolk's portfolio includes Lowell High School in Massachusetts, a 623,000-square-foot multi-phase renovation and expansion. The page gives no dates.

For subs: Suffolk's contact page offers "Trade Partner Prequalification" as a contact reason but does not name a platform.

20. STO Building Group (New York, NY)

2025 K-12 school facility revenue: $253,000,000. STO is the parent of a family of builders that includes Structure Tone, Layton Construction, Pavarini and LF Driscoll. Its locations page lists its New York headquarters at 330 West 34th Street.

School work: We could not verify a recent K-12 project by an STO company on a page we could open, so we are not listing one.

For subs: STO's subcontractor page prequalifies U.S. subcontractors through COMPASS, a paid subscription service.

What the List Tells Subcontractors

Three things stand out.

First, this is a Texas-heavy market at the top. Six of the top eight firms list Texas offices first or as headquarters: CORE, Pogue, Joeris, Bartlett Cocke, Satterfield & Pontikes and Lee Lewis. Most of the projects they posted are big suburban high schools for fast-growing districts, such as Prosper, Northwest, Liberty Hill and Sheldon ISDs. In Texas, the bid lists that matter most belong to regional builders, not national ones.

Second, the platform split is wider than in hospital work. BuildingConnected and its TradeTapp module cover Balfour Beatty, JE Dunn, Satterfield & Pontikes, Barton Malow, Whiting-Turner, C.W. Driver, Nabholz and Skanska. COMPASS covers CORE, Gilbane, Lee Lewis and STO. Turner uses Vertikal. Swinerton uses a CMiC registration link, and Bartlett Cocke's prequalification link goes to a CMiC portal on its own domain.

Third, the paperwork repeats. Gilbane, Barton Malow, Turner, Shawmut, Swinerton and Bartlett Cocke all ask for some mix of financial statements, an EMR letter, OSHA 300 logs, a bonding or surety letter and a line-of-credit letter. Bartlett Cocke ties its list to contract size, which tells you that smaller first scopes carry a lighter document load.

School jobs carry their own constraints. Several of the projects above were delivered through CM at risk, including CORE's Fernley work, Pogue's Richland High School and Bartlett Cocke's Johnson High School, so the trade packages run through the CM rather than a low-bid prime. Summer-break windows are hard deadlines, as with the Fernley job. Occupied-campus phasing shows up too: Gilbane's Bullard Havens project is phased so the existing school stays occupied during construction. Our school construction cost per square foot benchmarks are a useful check against bid numbers on these jobs.

Where School Construction Is Heading

The Census Bureau's September 2026 construction spending release, published November 2, put public educational construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $113.1 billion. That was virtually unchanged from August. Total educational construction, public and private, was $137.6 billion, 2.6 percent below September 2025. Census counts colleges in that category too, so it is a ceiling for K-12, not a K-12 figure.

The projects on this list show where that money goes: new high schools in growing districts, career and technical education buildings, and bond-funded renovation programs like Howard S. Wright's work for three Oregon districts. Local bonds pay for a lot of it. Pogue's Northwest ISD high school, for example, is funded by a $1.9 billion bond the district's voters approved in May 2023. Our explainer on school construction bond financing covers how that pipeline works, and where school construction spending is going in 2026 breaks the market down further.

Several of these firms also show up in healthcare. Turner, Gilbane, Whiting-Turner, JE Dunn, Skanska, Swinerton and STO Building Group are all on our top 20 hospital and healthcare construction contractors list.

Bottom Line

K-12 school construction is regional. CORE alone reported more 2025 school revenue than the bottom four firms on this list combined. The top tier is mostly Texas builders, and the rest of the list is largely national firms whose school work runs through local offices.

Find out which of these firms are building in your districts. Get your prequal package current on the platform each one uses, and watch district board agendas, where CM-at-risk selections and guaranteed maximum prices show up first. Price your first scope carefully with our bid calculator. A district job delivered on time is the best reference you can bring to the next one.

FAQ

What source is this school contractor ranking based on?

Building Design+Construction's Top 100 K-12 School Construction Firms for 2026, part of its 2026 Giants 400 Report, published September 4, 2026. Firms are ranked by 2025 K-12 school facility revenue supplied by the firms themselves.

Who is the largest K-12 school construction contractor in the U.S.?

CORE Construction Group, with $1.53 billion in 2025 K-12 school facility revenue on BD+C's list. Pogue Construction was second at $1.32 billion and Gilbane Building Company third at $1.28 billion.

Why are so many of the top school contractors based in Texas?

Six of the top eight firms list a Texas headquarters or lead office, and the projects they post are mostly large new high schools for fast-growing districts.

How do subcontractors get prequalified with school contractors?

BuildingConnected or TradeTapp is the most common platform on this list. CORE, Gilbane, Lee Lewis and STO Building Group use COMPASS, and Turner uses Vertikal. Expect to submit financial statements, an EMR letter, OSHA 300 logs, a bonding letter and insurance certificates.