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Annual mean wage of construction and extraction occupations was $48,900 in 2016

April 06, 2017

Construction and extraction occupations had employment of nearly 5.6 million in May 2016, representing 4 percent of total national employment. Over 4.2 million of these jobs were in construction trades occupations, including construction laborers (912,100), carpenters (676,980), and electricians (607,120).
Employment and annual mean wages for construction and extraction occupations, May 2016
Occupation Employment Annual mean wages

Construction laborers

 912,100 $37,890

Carpenters

 676,980 48,340

Electricians

 607,120 56,650

First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

 538,220 68,040

Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

 451,500 54,870

Construction equipment operators

 412,190 49,810

Helpers, construction trades

 228,590 30,900

Painters and paperhangers

 220,470 41,430

Cement masons, concrete finishers, and terrazzo workers

 177,340 43,770

Highway maintenance workers

 143,320 39,540

Sheet metal workers

 134,450 51,080

Roofers

 116,410 42,080

Drywall installers, ceiling tile installers, and tapers

 111,650 48,460

Construction and building inspectors

 94,960 61,250

Brickmasons, blockmasons, and stonemasons

 77,560 51,770

Carpet, floor, and tile installers and finishers

 77,410 43,950

Derrick, rotary drill, and service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining

 71,860 54,010

Structural iron and steel workers

 69,440 56,040

Insulation workers

 56,770 45,070

Roustabouts, oil and gas

 51,290 40,480

Glaziers

 47,140 47,260

Hazardous materials removal workers

 44,280 45,500

Miscellaneous construction and related workers

 37,070 40,190

Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners

 26,320 38,870

Plasterers and stucco masons

 22,810 44,070

Elevator installers and repairers

 22,240 76,860

Fence erectors

 21,500 36,380

Mining machine operators

 20,120 51,800

Reinforcing iron and rebar workers

 20,020 53,600

Earth drillers, except oil and gas

 18,500 51,240

Helpers--extraction workers

 17,660 37,160

Boilermakers

 16,660 62,200

Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators

 14,250 52,810

Solar photovoltaic installers

 8,870 42,500

Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters

 6,310 54,580

Miscellaneous extraction workers

 4,320 51,170

Roof bolters, mining

 3,930 58,110

Rock splitters, quarry

 3,770 34,860

The highest paying construction and extraction occupations were elevator installers and repairers ($76,860) and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers ($68,040). The lowest paying construction and extraction occupation was construction trades helpers ($30,900). The annual mean wage across all construction and extraction occupations was $48,900, slightly below the U.S. average wage of $49,630 for all occupations combined.

These data are from the Occupational Employment Statistics program. To learn more, see, "Occupational Employment and Wages — May 2016" (HTML) (PDF).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Annual mean wage of construction and extraction occupations was $48,900 in 2016 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/annual-mean-wage-of-construction-and-extraction-occupations-was-48900-in-2016.htm (visited February 25, 2026).