1.7 million people hold the single largest job classification in American construction — SOC 47-2061, Construction Laborers — and the median one of them earns $22.16/hr ($46,090/year) in 2026. That is the entire industry's foundation trade, and it carries the widest state-to-state spread of any classification I track: $32.25/hr in New York against $16.00/hr in Mississippi, a 102% gap for identical work. Laborers also absorb a disproportionate share of the industry's fatalities — trenching, struck-by, and heat deaths land on this classification more than any other — so the question of whether the pay matches the risk is not academic. Here are the numbers, state by state.
The 2026 National Picture: $22.16/hr for 1.7 Million Workers
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics puts construction laborer employment at roughly 1.7 million, more than electricians and carpenters combined. The 2026 wage distribution for SOC 47-2061:
- Median: $22.16/hr ($46,090/year at 2,080 hours)
- 10th percentile: $15.10/hr — entry labor, residential cleanup, labor-broker placements in the South
- 25th percentile: $17.65/hr — general site labor, non-union residential
- 75th percentile: $28.90/hr — skilled pipelayers, concrete laborers, union heavy-civil crews
- 90th percentile: $37.40/hr — LIUNA journeymen in high-density metros, tunnel and utility specialists
The median rose 4.1% over 2025 — the fastest growth of any major construction classification, and faster than the 2.7% CPI. Two reasons. First, the infrastructure spending cycle is labor-intensive at exactly this classification: highway, bridge, and utility work needs laborers in volume. Second, immigration enforcement has thinned the informal labor supply that historically suppressed the bottom quartile. Roughly 28% of the construction workforce is foreign-born, and the laborer classification holds the highest share of any trade — supply shocks hit here first and hardest.
Understand what the "laborer" title conceals: this classification spans everything from a first-day site cleanup hand to a certified pipelayer benching a 12-foot trench. The 75th-to-10th percentile spread — $28.90 against $15.10 — is really a skills ladder hiding inside one SOC code. The workers stuck at the bottom of it are disproportionately the ones misclassified, paid cash, or churned through staffing agencies with no path upward.
Full 50-State Construction Laborer Wage Table (2026)
Every state plus the District of Columbia, median hourly and annual, SOC 47-2061. Annual assumes 2,080 hours — and laborers, more than any other trade, rarely get 2,080 guaranteed hours.
| State | Median Hourly | Median Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $16.85 | $35,050 |
| Alaska | $28.50 | $59,280 |
| Arizona | $20.45 | $42,540 |
| Arkansas | $16.60 | $34,530 |
| California | $28.00 | $58,240 |
| Colorado | $22.60 | $47,010 |
| Connecticut | $25.75 | $53,560 |
| Delaware | $22.35 | $46,490 |
| District of Columbia | $25.15 | $52,310 |
| Florida | $18.60 | $38,690 |
| Georgia | $18.90 | $39,310 |
| Hawaii | $32.00 | $66,560 |
| Idaho | $19.45 | $40,460 |
| Illinois | $31.10 | $64,690 |
| Indiana | $20.75 | $43,160 |
| Iowa | $20.55 | $42,740 |
| Kansas | $19.90 | $41,390 |
| Kentucky | $18.15 | $37,750 |
| Louisiana | $17.55 | $36,500 |
| Maine | $21.20 | $44,100 |
| Maryland | $22.90 | $47,630 |
| Massachusetts | $27.95 | $58,140 |
| Michigan | $22.00 | $45,760 |
| Minnesota | $27.05 | $56,260 |
| Mississippi | $16.00 | $33,280 |
| Missouri | $22.30 | $46,380 |
| Montana | $20.90 | $43,470 |
| Nebraska | $19.75 | $41,080 |
| Nevada | $23.90 | $49,710 |
| New Hampshire | $21.75 | $45,240 |
| New Jersey | $28.80 | $59,900 |
| New Mexico | $18.55 | $38,580 |
| New York | $32.25 | $67,080 |
| North Carolina | $18.70 | $38,900 |
| North Dakota | $22.10 | $45,970 |
| Ohio | $21.60 | $44,930 |
| Oklahoma | $17.70 | $36,820 |
| Oregon | $26.55 | $55,220 |
| Pennsylvania | $23.25 | $48,360 |
| Rhode Island | $23.65 | $49,190 |
| South Carolina | $17.05 | $35,460 |
| South Dakota | $18.35 | $38,170 |
| Tennessee | $17.95 | $37,340 |
| Texas | $18.40 | $38,270 |
| Utah | $20.35 | $42,330 |
| Vermont | $21.40 | $44,510 |
| Virginia | $20.70 | $43,060 |
| Washington | $28.65 | $59,590 |
| West Virginia | $17.30 | $35,980 |
| Wisconsin | $23.45 | $48,780 |
| Wyoming | $20.90 | $43,470 |
| National Median | $22.16 | $46,090 |
Top 5 and Bottom 5: A Poverty-Line Problem at the Bottom
Top 5 — LIUNA Density and Prevailing Wage
- New York — $32.25/hr. LIUNA locals in the city run $42-$48/hr on the check for heavy-civil work, with the state's prevailing wage law extending union-equivalent rates across public projects.
- Hawaii — $32.00/hr. Isolated labor market, strong union density, and military construction paying Davis-Bacon rates under 40 U.S.C. 3142.
- Illinois — $31.10/hr. Chicago-area LIUNA scale plus the state Prevailing Wage Act. An Illinois laborer out-earns a Texas carpenter.
- New Jersey — $28.80/hr. A $2,000 prevailing wage threshold captures nearly all public work.
- Washington — $28.65/hr. No state income tax, strong prevailing wage enforcement, and sustained heavy-civil volume in the Puget Sound corridor.
Bottom 5 — Where Full-Time Construction Work Approaches the Poverty Line
Mississippi ($16.00), Arkansas ($16.60), Alabama ($16.85), South Carolina ($17.05), West Virginia ($17.30). Run the arithmetic: $16.00/hr is $33,280 a year at full hours — for a family of four, that is barely 20% above the 2026 federal poverty guideline. This is physically punishing outdoor work with the highest heat-fatality exposure in the industry, and in five states the median worker doing it cannot comfortably support a household on it. Every one of those states is right-to-work with construction union density under 6%, no state prevailing wage law or a gutted one, and heavy reliance on labor brokers who convert employees into 1099 contractors. Misclassification strips workers of overtime under FLSA Section 7, workers' comp coverage, and unemployment insurance — and it is concentrated precisely in this classification.
Union vs. Non-Union: The Widest Relative Gap in Construction
The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) 2026 journeyman average across major metros is $32.40/hr base against a $19.80/hr non-union average — a 64% premium, the largest relative union gap of any construction classification. The package accounting:
- LIUNA journeyman: $32.40 base + $19-$23/hr in fringes (pension, health and welfare, training fund) = roughly $53/hr total package
- Non-union laborer: $19.80 base + $1-$2/hr typical benefits value = roughly $21.50/hr package
That is a total-compensation ratio of nearly 2.5 to 1. No other trade comes close, because no other trade's non-union floor sits so near the minimum wage. The union premium here is not a luxury argument — it is frequently the difference between poverty-line work and a middle-class wage for the same shovel. The same structural forces run through every classification — see the state-by-state spreads for heavy equipment operators, the classification most laborers promote into, and carpenters.
Laborers also work the most overtime-volatile schedules in construction — shutdown weeks followed by 60-hour pours. Every hour past 40 is time-and-a-half under FLSA Section 7, no exceptions for "salary" site labor or per-diem schemes. Check what your check should say with the overtime calculator; unpaid overtime recovery claims run two years back, three if the violation is willful (29 U.S.C. 255).
Cost-of-Living Adjustment: The Midwest Wins Again
| State | Nominal Wage | COL Index | Adjusted Wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | $31.10 | 93 | $33.44 |
| Minnesota | $27.05 | 94 | $28.78 |
| Missouri | $22.30 | 88 | $25.34 |
| New York | $32.25 | 123 | $26.22 |
| Wisconsin | $23.45 | 95 | $24.68 |
| Washington | $28.65 | 116 | $24.70 |
| California | $28.00 | 138 | $20.29 |
| Hawaii | $32.00 | 179 | $17.88 |
| Mississippi | $16.00 | 86 | $18.60 |
Illinois is the strongest real-wage state for laborers in the country — $31.10/hr nominal against a 93 cost index. Hawaii's table-topping $32.00/hr collapses to $17.88/hr adjusted, barely ahead of Mississippi. The practical takeaway for a mobile worker: Midwest union markets (Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin) pay laborers more real money than either coast. For workers who cannot relocate, the equivalent move is joining a LIUNA local where one exists — the union differential inside a low-cost state beats moving to a high-cost one.
The Career Ladder: Laborer Is an Entry Point, Not a Ceiling
The laborer classification has the lowest formal entry barrier in construction — no license, no degree, OSHA 10 increasingly expected — but it also has structured advancement that too few workers are told about:
- LIUNA registered apprenticeships (under 29 CFR Parts 29-30) run 2 years / 4,000 hours — the shortest in the building trades — with classroom training in pipelaying, mason tending, asphalt, and environmental remediation. Year-1 apprentices start at 60-70% of journeyman scale.
- Certification stacking moves workers up inside the classification: OSHA 30, confined-space entry (29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA), trench competent person (29 CFR 1926.652), rigger/signalperson, HAZWOPER 40 (29 CFR 1910.120). Each credential is worth $1-$3/hr, and the competent-person designation is a supervisory track.
- Trade transitions: the laborer-to-operator and laborer-to-carpenter paths are the two most common promotions in the industry. Operators median $6-$8/hr above laborers in most states.
Where the state programs rank is covered in our apprenticeship rankings. The two-year LIUNA track is the fastest debt-free route to a $50/hr total package that exists in the US labor market, and it is chronically undersubscribed.
2026 Outlook: The Floor Is Rising
Three forces push laborer wages up through 2027:
- Infrastructure volume. Highway and utility work is laborer-intensive, and the funded project pipeline runs years deep. BLS projects roughly 150,000 annual openings in the classification — the most of any construction occupation.
- Immigration enforcement. The informal-labor discount that suppressed the bottom quartile is shrinking as enforcement tightens. Bottom-decile wages rose faster than the median in 2026 — 4.8% against 4.1%.
- Heat rules raising the cost of the status quo. OSHA's heat injury and illness prevention rulemaking — with employer trigger obligations beginning at a 90°F heat index — lands hardest on laborer-heavy site work. Compliant employers (shade, water, acclimatization schedules, paid rest breaks) carry higher costs and pay higher wages; the enforcement gap between them and the cash-pay brokers is closing. Every heat death in this classification was preventable, and the median laborer should never again be asked to trade hydration breaks for employment.
Expect the national median near $23.10/hr by mid-2027 — a further 4% gain, with the bottom decile gaining faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
What state pays construction laborers the most in 2026?
New York, at a $32.25/hr median ($67,080/year), followed by Hawaii at $32.00/hr and Illinois at $31.10/hr. Adjusted for cost of living, Illinois leads decisively — $31.10/hr against a COL index of 93.
Is $22/hr good pay for a construction laborer?
It is the national median for SOC 47-2061, so half the classification earns more. In Mississippi, $22/hr sits in the top 15% of laborers; in Chicago or New York, LIUNA journeymen earn $10-$16/hr more. Compare against your state row, not the national number.
How much do union laborers make compared to non-union?
LIUNA journeyman scale averages $32.40/hr in 2026 versus $19.80/hr non-union — a 64% premium, the widest relative gap in construction. With fringes included, the total package is roughly $53/hr union versus $21.50/hr non-union.
Do construction laborers get overtime pay?
Yes. FLSA Section 7 requires time-and-a-half after 40 hours in a workweek for non-exempt workers, and site laborers are non-exempt regardless of how they are paid — hourly, daily, or piece rate. Day-rate schemes that skip overtime are violations; back-wage claims reach two to three years under 29 U.S.C. 255.
How do laborers move up to higher-paying work?
Three routes: a two-year LIUNA registered apprenticeship (the shortest in the building trades), certification stacking (trench competent person, confined space, rigging, HAZWOPER — each worth $1-$3/hr), or transitioning to equipment operator or carpenter, the two most common promotions in the industry.
Why are laborer wages rising faster than other trades?
A 4.1% median gain in 2026 — the fastest of any major classification — driven by laborer-intensive infrastructure spending, a tightening informal labor supply as immigration enforcement expands, and roughly 150,000 annual job openings, the most of any construction occupation.
Your Action Item for This Week
If you work as a laborer: find your state row and compare your rate — and then check two more things. First, your classification: if you are running a compactor, tending a mason, or working in a trench box, you may be owed a skilled rate or a prevailing-wage classification above general labor on any public job (verify against the posted Davis-Bacon determination, which 29 CFR 5.5 requires your employer to post on site). Second, your overtime: run last month's hours through the overtime calculator and confirm every hour past 40 paid time-and-a-half. If you supervise laborers: your churn problem is a wage problem. Replacing a trained laborer costs $6,000-$10,000 in lost production; a $2/hr raise costs $4,160 a year. The arithmetic favors the raise — make it before the LIUNA organizer makes it for you.
Sources & Data Cited
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), SOC 47-2061: www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes472061.htm
- FLSA overtime provisions, 29 U.S.C. 207; statute of limitations, 29 U.S.C. 255
- Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements, 40 U.S.C. 3142; 29 CFR Part 5
- LIUNA 2026 collective bargaining wage data
- Related: Heavy Equipment Operator Wages by State 2026 | Carpenter Wages by State 2026
