Crushing and screening equipment (Image: Superior Industries)

Natural aggregates 鈥� including crushed stone, sand and gravel 鈥� are foundational to roads, bridges, housing and other core infrastructure, the report found, with the sector alone directly generating about $40 billion in annual sales while employing more than 100,000 workers.

But its influence is far broader.

According to the Phoenix Center鈥檚 report (), every job in the aggregates industry supports nearly six additional jobs in other sectors. Each dollar of wages in the aggregates sector creates almost $5 of earnings elsewhere in the economy, and every dollar of industry sales produces another $3.29 in sales across the economy.

These effects stem from the wide supply chain footprint of aggregate production and the steady demand from infrastructure and building construction. The report estimates that in 2023, the industry supported $54.8 billion in national earnings and more than 620,000 additional jobs beyond its direct workforce.

Sales ripple effects lifted the total economic impact to $170.7 billion.

Here鈥檚 a closer look at the numbers.

Aggregate industry drives hyperlocal economic engines

Recycled aggregate material (Image: CDE)

Although national figures are large, the aggregates industry is locally driven.

Because of high transport costs 鈥� averaging $0.22 per mile and doubling delivered prices within 23 to 45 mi of a quarry 鈥� about 90% of all aggregates in the US are consumed within 50 mi of where they are mined.

This means production is widely dispersed across the country; according to the US Geological Survey, more than 3,400 companies and government agencies operate thousands of sand, gravel, and crushed stone sites in all 50 states.

Still, there is some consolidation, as more than half the industry鈥檚 total value is produced by just ten states: Texas, California, and Florida are the top three.

The industry鈥檚 workforce reflects this dispersion. Its top occupations include heavy equipment operators, truck drivers and quarry supervisors, but the ripple effects extend to administrative workers, mechanics, healthcare professionals and even educators, whose roles are supported indirectly by household spending in communities tied to aggregates operations.

In all, the sector supports employment across more than 20 job classification groups, the report found.

Strong links to construction demand

Overhead view of the expo floor at World of Asphalt in St. Louis, Missouri, US. (Image: World of Asphalt)

The aggregates industry also tracks closely with infrastructure and building trends.

According to the US Geological Survey, crushed stone and sand and gravel make up 94% of the materials used in US interstate highway construction. By volume, concrete is 60% to 75% aggregate.

Consumption by sector breaks down as follows:

• Residential buildings: 33%
• Highways and streets: 31%
• Commercial buildings: 19%
• Government buildings: 5%
• Public works: 8%
• Railroads: 3%
• Private non-construction: 1%

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, with about $350 billion earmarked for roads and bridges, is expected to support further growth in aggregate demand.

The report finds a 10% increase in highway and street construction correlates to a 5.6% rise in aggregates sales.

Understated impacts of aggregates

Workers roll asphalt into place. (Image: Strabag)

The Phoenix Center says its analysis likely underestimates the sector鈥檚 true footprint.

That鈥檚 partly due to the treatment of transportation: the economic models used (Input鈥揙utput and Social Accounting Matrix) generally omit downstream effects like haulage, which can be as much as 45% of the delivered cost of aggregate.

A quarry in Texas, for example, that adds $1 million in sales may also trigger $820,000 in added trucking revenue, the report finds. That transport activity in turn supports more jobs and wages than the quarry alone.

Accounting for these effects could double the estimated economic footprint of the industry.

The bottom line

While often overlooked, aggregates are essential to nearly every construction project and provide long-term economic value.

The Phoenix Center notes that aggregates operations are typically long-lived, and even after material extraction ends, former quarries can be repurposed for commercial and recreational uses 鈥� such as parks, golf courses or nature preserves 鈥� creating additional local benefits.

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