---
title: "Construction Laborer"
description: "Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-laborer"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Construction Laborer

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2061 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2061.00

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.

Also advertised as: Bituminous Asphalt Technician; Construction Laborer; Construction Worker; Drop Crew Laborer; Equipment Operator (EO); Form Setter; Post Framer; Scaffolding Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $47,120 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $22.66/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $35,090 to $78,090, with the middle half between $38,620 and $59,740
- **Total US employment:** 1,096,780
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +7.3% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 129,400 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 72/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 1,096,780 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $35,090 |
| 25th | $38,620 |
| 50th (median) | $47,120 |
| 75th | $59,740 |
| 90th | $78,090 |
| Mean (average) | $52,030 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| HI | $77,110 | $70,131 | 4,580 |
| NJ | $64,060 | $58,876 | 23,590 |
| MA | $63,390 | $59,939 | 16,210 |
| IL | $60,690 | $60,716 | 35,940 |
| CA | $60,270 | $54,435 | 88,240 |
| MN | $60,260 | $61,103 | 28,530 |
| CT | $58,290 | $56,259 | 7,360 |
| AK | $58,060 | $56,722 | 3,690 |
| WA | $57,720 | $53,937 | 25,060 |
| RI | $57,240 | $55,964 | 2,110 |
| MO | $56,730 | $62,466 | 17,050 |
| WI | $56,100 | $59,621 | 20,330 |
| OH | $56,080 | $60,448 | 31,910 |
| NY | $55,930 | $51,825 | 52,090 |
| OR | $50,860 | $49,206 | 12,620 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-laborer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/construction-laborer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 1,457,000 in the 2024–2034 base year to 1,563,400 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 106,500 jobs, or +7.3%. Much faster than average: 7.3% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 129,400 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** No formal educational credential (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 34.9% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 32.5% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 28.0% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 4.6% |

## What the work involves

- Read plans, instructions, or specifications to determine work activities.
- Clean or prepare construction sites to eliminate possible hazards.
- Lubricate, clean, or repair machinery, equipment, or tools.
- Tend pumps, compressors, or generators to provide power for tools, machinery, or equipment or to heat or move materials, such as asphalt.
- Load, unload, or identify building materials, machinery, or tools, distributing them to the appropriate locations, according to project plans or specifications.
- Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials.
- Measure, mark, or record openings or distances to layout areas where construction work will be performed.
- Dig ditches or trenches, backfill excavations, or compact and level earth to grade specifications, using picks, shovels, pneumatic tampers, or rakes.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Speaking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Selection — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Building and Construction — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Static Strength — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.61 |
| I — Investigative | 2.68 |
| A — Artistic | 1.38 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.35 |
| S — Social | 1.23 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 87.6 |
| ISTP | 79.3 |
| ISFJ | 70.7 |
| ESTJ | 69.6 |
| INTJ | 68.1 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operator) — median $53,340
- [Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operator, Surface Mining](https://nuecareer.com/careers/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operator-surface-mining) — median $57,430
- [Cement Mason and Concrete Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cement-mason-and-concrete-finisher) — median $57,020
- [Pipelayer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pipelayer) — median $49,000
- [Structural Iron and Steel Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker) — median $62,780
- [Brickmason and Blockmason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/brickmason-and-blockmason) — median $62,120
- [Operating Engineer and Other Construction Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/operating-engineer-and-other-construction-equipment-operator) — median $59,850
- [Helpers--Brickmason, Blockmason, Stonemason, and Tile and Marble Setter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-brickmason-blockmason-stonemason-and-tile-and-marble-setter) — median $47,550
- [Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpenter) — median $60,580
- [Maintenance Worker, Machinery](https://nuecareer.com/careers/maintenance-worker-machinery) — median $60,850

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/construction-laborer