Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

47-2061 Construction Laborers

Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers. Construction laborers who primarily assist a particular craft worker are classified under "Helpers, Construction Trades" (47-3010). Excludes "Hazardous Materials Removal Workers" (47-4041).

---

National estimates for Construction Laborers
Industry profile for Construction Laborers
Geographic profile for Construction Laborers

National estimates for Construction Laborers:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Construction Laborers:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
971,330	0.8 %	$ 20.67	$ 43,000	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for Construction Laborers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 12.54	$ 14.75	$ 18.22	$ 24.20	$ 33.60
Annual Wage (2)	$ 26,090	$ 30,690	$ 37,890	$ 50,330	$ 69,880

---

Industry profile for Construction Laborers:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Construction Laborers are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Construction Laborers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Construction Laborers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Other Specialty Trade Contractors	155,090	22.33	$ 20.78	$ 43,220
Residential Building Construction	127,900	16.00	$ 19.17	$ 39,860
Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors	115,520	12.50	$ 20.33	$ 42,290
Utility System Construction	115,510	20.74	$ 21.47	$ 44,650
Nonresidential Building Construction	114,770	14.21	$ 21.91	$ 45,580

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Construction Laborers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction	84,950	23.74	$ 23.60	$ 49,090
Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction	27,890	23.17	$ 21.27	$ 44,240
Other Specialty Trade Contractors	155,090	22.33	$ 20.78	$ 43,220
Utility System Construction	115,510	20.74	$ 21.47	$ 44,650
Residential Building Construction	127,900	16.00	$ 19.17	$ 39,860

Top paying industries for Construction Laborers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution	970	0.26	$ 28.84	$ 59,980
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	180	(7)	$ 26.49	$ 55,110
Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing	30	0.01	$ 25.87	$ 53,810
Telecommunications	710	0.10	$ 25.81	$ 53,680
Amusement Parks and Arcades	150	0.12	$ 25.65	$ 53,340

---

Geographic profile for Construction Laborers:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Construction Laborers are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Construction Laborers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Construction Laborers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Texas	104,130	8.60	1.23	$ 16.82	$ 34,980
California	100,740	6.13	0.88	$ 24.63	$ 51,240
Florida	71,830	8.51	1.22	$ 16.37	$ 34,040
New York	58,380	6.72	0.96	$ 27.64	$ 57,480
Pennsylvania	37,000	6.71	0.96	$ 21.64	$ 45,000

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Construction Laborers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New Mexico	9,940	12.65	1.81	$ 16.56	$ 34,430
Wyoming	3,290	12.59	1.80	$ 18.14	$ 37,740
Utah	16,740	11.24	1.61	$ 17.98	$ 37,410
West Virginia	7,130	10.98	1.57	$ 17.50	$ 36,400
Idaho	7,660	10.65	1.53	$ 16.85	$ 35,060

Top paying states for Construction Laborers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Hawaii	4,460	7.76	1.11	$ 30.14	$ 62,690
Illinois	31,910	5.67	0.81	$ 29.44	$ 61,240
New Jersey	24,020	6.35	0.91	$ 28.21	$ 58,680
Massachusetts	18,900	5.64	0.81	$ 27.70	$ 57,610
New York	58,380	6.72	0.96	$ 27.64	$ 57,480

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Construction Laborers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	59,570	6.74	0.97	$ 29.45	$ 61,250
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	30,000	5.15	0.74	$ 23.18	$ 48,210
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	29,380	9.90	1.42	$ 17.92	$ 37,280
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	25,000	6.97	1.00	$ 17.39	$ 36,170
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	23,860	5.47	0.78	$ 32.05	$ 66,670
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	17,850	7.12	1.02	$ 16.41	$ 34,130
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	16,790	7.96	1.14	$ 19.60	$ 40,770
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	16,240	5.38	0.77	$ 18.44	$ 38,360
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	15,840	8.10	1.16	$ 27.11	$ 56,400
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	15,360	5.84	0.84	$ 16.51	$ 34,340

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Construction Laborers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Farmington, NM	1,290	29.73	4.26	$ 17.10	$ 35,560
Twin Falls, ID	1,130	24.70	3.54	$ 13.96	$ 29,040
The Villages, FL	640	21.37	3.06	$ 16.15	$ 33,590
Lake Charles, LA	2,170	21.34	3.06	(8)	(8)
Greeley, CO	2,180	20.85	2.99	$ 18.27	$ 38,010
Corpus Christi, TX	3,500	19.37	2.77	$ 16.12	$ 33,530
Morgantown, WV	1,010	16.28	2.33	$ 16.74	$ 34,810
Sumter, SC	570	15.73	2.25	$ 15.70	$ 32,650
Fairbanks, AK	480	15.60	2.23	$ 25.46	$ 52,950
Provo-Orem, UT	3,750	14.81	2.12	$ 16.78	$ 34,910