The Best-Paying Cities for Construction Workers
Total construction spending in the United States amounted to $917.4 billion due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Which caused many jobs losses for those in construction. Here are the best paying cities for those who work construction jobs.
According to The News Herland, total construction spending in the United States amounted to $917.4 billion during the first six months of 2023. While this total only represents a 2.5% inflation-adjusted increase over the same period in 2022, inflation-adjusted construction spending has increased by over 16.5% from the same period in 2020—when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic halted economic activity, disrupted supply chains, and dramatically altered spending patterns.
A major portion of this increased construction spending is attributable to heightened investment in the residential housing sector. After over a decade of underinvestment in new residential housing—as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis and housing market crash—new housing starts have steadily increased. And although rising interest rates are taking a toll on the economy as a whole, there have been signs of growth in new housing construction.
Increased spending in the residential housing sector and across the construction industry as a whole also bodes well for construction employment. After a sharp decline during the pandemic where total construction employment sank to 6.5 million, employment in the construction industry has steadily grown. In fact, employment in the sector has surpassed pre-COVID levels, and as of July 2023, there were over 7.9 million people employed in construction, an all-time high.
Demand for construction workers translates to strong wages. The construction industry generally compensates its workers well, especially when considering that few construction occupations require a postsecondary degree. On a national level, full- and part-time wage and salary construction workers earn a median of $50,570 per year, which is about 9% more than the median wage of $46,310 for all occupations.
