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40+ Free Data Sources for Building AEC Industry Tools

Building tools for the AEC industry has never been easier. Here is every free, publicly accessible government and industry database you can use to create products, reports, and dashboards -- no expensive APIs, no unreliable scraping.

40+
Free Data Sources
25+
With APIs
$0
Cost to Access
aechub.org · Published March 2026
Why This Matters

The greenfield opportunity in AEC data

The AEC industry generates enormous amounts of public data -- salary statistics, construction spending, bridge conditions, building permits, material prices, safety records, infrastructure funding -- but almost none of it has been packaged into tools that professionals can actually use. The data exists. It is free. It has APIs. Nobody has built with it yet.

How to use this guide
Every source listed here is free and publicly accessible. We have included the exact URLs, data formats (API, CSV, GIS), update frequency, and a product idea for each one. Whether you are a startup building an AEC SaaS tool, an architecture firm creating internal dashboards, or a solo developer looking for a side project -- this is your inventory.
01
Salary & Workforce Data
5 sources -- the foundation for any AEC career or compensation tool
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS)
Bureau of Labor Statistics
FreeJSON APIXLSX
Wage estimates (mean, median, 10th/25th/75th/90th percentiles) for ~830 occupations including every AEC role. Data sliced by national, state, and ~530 metro areas. This is the single best salary dataset available -- and it is completely free.
Update: Annual (May)API: 500 queries/day (free key)Coverage: All US occupations
bls.gov/oes/tables.htm · bls.gov/developers/
Build: AEC Salary Explorer -- search by role, state, metro area with percentile breakdowns
BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES)
Bureau of Labor Statistics / FRED
FreeJSON API
Monthly construction employment (~8.31M workers, Jan 2026), average hourly earnings ($40.55/hr), hours worked, and job gains/losses by construction subsector. Also available through FRED with Python library support.
Update: MonthlyFRED series: USCONS
bls.gov/ces/ · fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USCONS
Build: Construction Labor Market Dashboard with monthly trends and wage tracking
DOL Registered Apprenticeship Data (RAPIDS)
Department of Labor
FreeCSV
Apprenticeship program counts, demographics, and completion rates by occupation and state. Construction trades dominate -- electricians (23%), plumbers (12%), carpenters (11%) of all US apprentices.
Update: AnnualFormat: Interactive dashboards + data.gov downloads
apprenticeship.gov/data-and-statistics
Build: Workforce Pipeline Analyzer -- forecast labor availability by trade and region
NCARB By The Numbers
National Council of Architectural Registration Boards
Free PDF
116,005 licensed architects across 55 jurisdictions. Demographics (42% of new architects are women), ~40,000 active candidates, ARE pass rates, licensing timelines. The definitive annual snapshot of the architecture profession.
Update: AnnualFormat: PDF + interactive web
ncarb.org/nbtn2025
Build: State of Architecture annual report with diversity tracking and pipeline analysis
CPWR Construction Chart Book
CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training
Free
Comprehensive construction workforce data -- demographics, employment trends, projections, wages, safety stats, and training data across all trades. Interactive Tableau dashboards plus a free downloadable PDF chart book.
Update: RegularFormat: Tableau dashboards, PDF
cpwr.com/research/data-center/
Build: Construction Workforce Planning tool for HR departments

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40+ Free Data Sources for Building AEC Industry Tools | AEC Hub