Inside a bustling 32,000-square-foot factory in Boulder, Colorado, the clang of hammers and the whir of saws fill the air. Here, high school students, blueprints in hand, are learning more than just the basics of construction—they’re helping build actual homes for working families who have long been priced out of the local housing market. This innovative partnership between the city of Boulder, the Boulder Valley School District, and Habitat for Humanity is part of a growing movement across the United States that aims to address two urgent national crises: the shortage of skilled construction workers and the lack of affordable housing.
According to reporting by NPR, the city constructed this $13 million modular home factory on land owned by the school district, with funding support from state, federal, and private grants and loans. The homes built here aren’t just classroom exercises. They’re real, three-bedroom, two-bath modular houses, each about 1,150 square feet, destined for families who have struggled for years in substandard housing. Students receive hands-on experience and course credit, while Habitat for Humanity manages the program, ensuring that each home meets the needs—and budgets—of Boulder’s working families.
This program is the first of its kind in the nation, and its impact is already visible. In November 2025, the first two homes were carefully transported by truck to the Ponderosa Mobile Home Park, where they were placed onto new foundations by crane. For high school senior Sean McCormick, the experience was transformative. “I think it was a big accomplishment for us and what we can do in the future and all the problem-solving we had to do 'cause it's not like we're building a little miniproject. It's real-world-type stuff,” McCormick told NPR. He now plans to attend trade school to become an electrician or pipe fitter—a choice that reflects a broader shift in attitudes toward the skilled trades.
The urgency behind programs like Boulder’s is clear. The American Institute of Constructors estimates the U.S. will need more than 500,000 new construction workers just to keep up with demand. The Los Angeles Times, citing a Home Builders Institute report, notes that the industry must add roughly 723,000 workers every year through 2028. Years of underinvestment in trade education have left the country with a critical skills gap, costing the economy an estimated $10.8 billion annually in delayed projects and unbuilt homes. These delays have very real consequences: higher rents, escalating home prices, and millions of families left waiting for a shot at homeownership.
Meanwhile, construction jobs are becoming more attractive. Average wages in homebuilding surged over 9% in the past year, with non-supervisory workers now earning more than $35 an hour—well above the private-sector average. “There’s tremendous demand for builders, and incredible opportunity for anyone willing to learn the trades,” wrote Angelo Farooq, a real estate development partner and former chair of a state workforce board, in the Los Angeles Times.
In Boulder, the stakes are especially high. The median price of a single-family home in the city last year topped $1.3 million, putting traditional homeownership out of reach for most working families. The new modular homes built by students cost between $350,000 and $450,000, with significant subsidies and mortgages tailored to buyers’ incomes. Dan McColley, CEO of Flatirons Habitat for Humanity, explained to NPR that the program specifically targets families who have lived in substandard conditions for years. “So the families who are getting houses here have been living in substandard housing, some of them for decades,” McColley said. Residents of the Ponderosa Mobile Home Park, which was purchased and upgraded by the city after severe flooding, can choose to stay in their mobile homes or buy one of the new modular houses.
For Maribel Gonzalez-Rodriguez, a single mother of four who works in the kitchen of a downtown hotel, the new home is life-changing. Her current trailer is cramped, with two bedrooms for five people and Maribel sleeping on the couch. She told NPR, “It's incredibly exciting that I get to have my own house.” Soon, she’ll have her own upstairs bedroom with what she calls “the prettiest view in Boulder.”
Yet, Boulder’s program is just one bright spot in a much larger—and more complicated—national picture. The construction labor shortage is not merely a local issue. It’s a primary driver of America’s housing crisis, with job sites across the country struggling to find electricians, plumbers, framers, and HVAC technicians. Projects are delayed, scaled back, or canceled outright. The median age of a construction worker is now in the 40s, and retirements are accelerating, threatening to drain the industry of its most experienced hands. Women’s participation in construction has reached a 20-year high, and more members of Generation Z are entering the field, but progress remains too slow to keep pace with demand.
Industry experts and policymakers argue that a national workforce mobilization is needed. That means expanded vocational education, more apprenticeships, and stronger partnerships between community colleges and employers. Federal and state governments are urged to prioritize funding for construction training, while the private sector is called on to sponsor apprenticeship programs and create clear career pathways for young workers and underrepresented groups. “Trades are the backbone of the middle class and vital to our nation’s growth. We should celebrate and elevate these jobs: Carpenters, masons and electricians are nation builders in the truest sense,” Farooq wrote in the Los Angeles Times.
But workforce training alone won’t solve the housing crunch. Some experts point out that restrictive zoning, land-use barriers, and regulatory burdens also play significant roles, with regulatory costs accounting for nearly a quarter of a single-family home’s price. Others argue that interest rates and broader financial policies are just as important in determining housing affordability. Regional variation further complicates the picture: high-growth cities like Salt Lake City, Nashville, Phoenix, and Austin face acute labor shortages, while manufacturing megaprojects in some areas compete fiercely for the same workers. Immigration policy is another factor, as immigrants have historically comprised a third of the construction workforce, but their numbers have declined due to recent restrictions.
Despite advances in technology, automation won’t provide a quick fix. Construction still relies on skilled human labor for essential tasks like framing houses and wiring electrical systems. As Farooq put it, “Algorithms don’t frame houses or wire electrical systems.”
In the end, the path forward is clear but challenging. Investing in people—through training, apprenticeships, and cultural shifts that value the trades—can help close the workforce gap, increase housing supply, and stabilize prices. For families like Maribel Gonzalez-Rodriguez’s, and for the high school students in Boulder learning to build both homes and careers, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The dream of affordable housing hinges on whether the nation can train and empower the next generation of builders—and whether it can do so before the crisis deepens further.
