ENR East Top Design Firms: Designers Pin Growth on Public Sector and Data Center Markets

AECOM, ranked No. 1 on the ENR East Top Design Firms list, is designing the updated MBTA Ruggles Station in Boston. It is intended to bring the station, about 50 years old, into ADA compliance and address state of good repair needs.
Related Link:
ENR East Top Design Firms 2026
ENR East’s Top Design Firms ranking for 2026 shows abundant opportunities in data centers as well as in water and transportation sector work, especially state of good repair projects. The 128 firms listed in this year’s ranking produced a combined total of $18.7 billion in regional revenue last year, a 3% decrease from the $19.08 billion in revenue from 153 participating firms on the prior year’s list. Firms are based in East region states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Combined revenue for the top 10 firms in 2026 was up almost 4% to $7.8 billion. The top three ranked firms remain the same from last year’s list—with
AECOM once again at No. 1, reporting $1.64 billion in 2025 revenue, down slightly from $1.67 billion in the prior year. WSP USA finished second with $1.44 billion, up 3.6% from the $1.39 billion reported on last year’s survey. Stantec is third with $681.44 million, up 6.5% from the $640.14 million posted last year.
Breakout tables rank firm revenue by state and various design specialties and disciplines. There are also rankings for the MidAtlantic, New York and New England subregions. The top 20 MidAtlantic firms reported total revenue of $5.51 billion, up about 5% from the $5.25 billion reported last year. New York and New Jersey’s top 20 firms reported $4.93 billion in 2025 revenue, up about 2.7%. The top 20 in New England reported $2.4 billion in combined revenue, down about 4.4% from the $2.51 billion reported in the prior year.
Executives from ranked firms remain optimistic about opportunities in the East. Samuel Donelson, AECOM executive vice president and regional chief executive for U.S. East and Latin America, says data center work is driven by “sustained demand for digital infrastructure and cloud capacity.”
No. 1-ranked AECOM and No. 9-ranked STV are in a joint venture to provide construction management and inspection services for the Portal North Bridge replacement in New Jersey.
Photo courtesy STV
Donelson also sees increased demand for program management services as public-sector clients seek experienced partners to help integrate and deliver increasingly complex capital programs. “The overall industry outlook remains strong, underpinned by continued public-sector investment and long-term infrastructure needs,” he says.
“The overall industry outlook remains strong, underpinned by continued public sector investment and long-term infrastructure needs.”
—Sam Donelson, Executive Vice President & Regional Chief Executive for U.S. East and Latin America, AECOM
He notes that federal work remains active as spending aligns with evolving administration priorities. Donelson says transportation infrastructure continues to require significant funding even as the emphasis shifts from large-scale capacity expansions to state of good repair work. AECOM and No. 9-ranked STV are in a joint venture to provide comprehensive construction management and inspection services to NJ Transit for the Portal North Bridge replacement, including live-rail sequencing, phased construction oversight, stakeholder coordination and major cutover activities required to replace the century-old swing bridge with a high-level, fixed-span crossing.
Will Flores, senior vice president in STV’s transportation north operating group, says projects such as the Portal North Bridge “highlight the scale and complexity” of large-scale programs focused on state of good repair, requiring “deep technical expertise, careful phasing and close coordination among multiple agencies while maintaining active rail service.”
Resilient New York City is a partnership between No. 6- ranked Arcadis and the New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection that aims to advance green stormwater management, including by installing a subsurface infiltration system at Flushing Hospital in Flushing, N.Y.
Photo courtesy Arcadis
Flores says opportunities also exist in projects that combine engineering rigor with disciplined delivery, especially in dense, highly constrained environments where success is measured not only by what is built, but also “by how safely and seamlessly critical milestones are executed.”
Jee Mee Kim, Arcadis vice president and executive for the New York City region, agrees that transportation continues to be a significant opportunity for the No. 6-ranked firm, which reported $597.55 million in 2025 revenue despite federal funding challenges. She says congestion pricing in New York City has “unlocked $15 billion” for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to advance its capital program “with state of good repair representing nearly 90%.”
Kim says water also is a significant area of work, noting that the New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection “continues to self-support a large capital program” for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems.



