--- title: "Highest-Paying Jobs in Construction" description: "Every occupation in the SOC construction and extraction group, plus construction managers, ranked by national median wage." canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/highest-paying-jobs-in-construction" last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z" --- # Highest-Paying Jobs in Construction Every occupation in the SOC construction and extraction group, plus construction managers, ranked by national median wage. 30 occupations, in the ranked order the career bank computed. Wages are BLS OEWS, May 2025. Growth figures are BLS Employment Projections and education is the BLS "typical education needed for entry". | # | Occupation | Median annual wage | Projected growth | Typical education | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | [Construction Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-manager) | $114,990 | +8.7% | Bachelor's | | 2 | [Elevator Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/elevator-installer) | $109,910 | +5.0% | High school | | 3 | [First-Line Supervisor of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-construction-trades-and-extraction-workers) | $79,920 | +5.3% | High school | | 4 | [Roof Bolter, Mining](https://nuecareer.com/careers/roof-bolter-mining) | $78,540 | -34.2% | High school | | 5 | [Boilermaker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/boilermaker) | $76,410 | -2.4% | High school | | 6 | [Terrazzo Worker and Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/terrazzo-worker-and-finisher) | $76,170 | -11.1% | High school | | 7 | [Construction and Building Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-and-building-inspector) | $74,690 | -0.8% | High school | | 8 | [Loading and Moving Machine Operator, Underground Mining](https://nuecareer.com/careers/loading-and-moving-machine-operator-underground-mining) | $74,500 | -22.3% | No formal credential | | 9 | [Pile Driver Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pile-driver-operator) | $73,300 | +4.3% | High school | | 10 | [Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rail-track-laying-and-maintenance-equipment-operator) | $70,070 | +1.6% | High school | | 11 | [Taper](https://nuecareer.com/careers/taper) | $68,270 | +0.1% | No formal credential | | 12 | [Rotary Drill Operator, Oil and Gas](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rotary-drill-operator-oil-and-gas) | $67,890 | +0.2% | No formal credential | | 13 | [Plumber](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plumber) | $63,800 | +4.5% | High school | | 14 | [Electrician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrician) | $63,190 | +9.5% | High school | | 15 | [Structural Iron and Steel Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker) | $62,780 | +4.4% | High school | | 16 | [Brickmason and Blockmason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/brickmason-and-blockmason) | $62,120 | +3.2% | High school | | 17 | [Continuous Mining Machine Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/continuous-mining-machine-operator) | $61,810 | +0.6% | No formal credential | | 18 | [Sheet Metal Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sheet-metal-worker) | $61,800 | +2.4% | High school | | 19 | [Explosives Worker, Ordnance Handling Expert, and Blaster](https://nuecareer.com/careers/explosives-worker-ordnance-handling-expert-and-blaster) | $61,390 | -0.9% | High school | | 20 | [Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpenter) | $60,580 | +4.5% | High school | | 21 | [Earth Driller, Except Oil and Gas](https://nuecareer.com/careers/earth-driller) | $60,190 | +2.9% | High school | | 22 | [Operating Engineer and Other Construction Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/operating-engineer-and-other-construction-equipment-operator) | $59,850 | +3.6% | High school | | 23 | [Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/reinforcing-iron-and-rebar-worker) | $58,970 | +4.6% | High school | | 24 | [Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer) | $58,930 | +4.2% | No formal credential | | 25 | [Derrick Operator, Oil and Gas](https://nuecareer.com/careers/derrick-operator-oil-and-gas) | $58,620 | +0.5% | No formal credential | | 26 | [Insulation Worker, Mechanical](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-mechanical) | $58,340 | +4.7% | High school | | 27 | [Service Unit Operator, Oil and Gas](https://nuecareer.com/careers/service-unit-operator-oil-and-gas) | $58,160 | +0.4% | No formal credential | | 28 | [Plasterer and Stucco Mason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plasterer-and-stucco-mason) | $57,660 | +4.1% | No formal credential | | 29 | [Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operator, Surface Mining](https://nuecareer.com/careers/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operator-surface-mining) | $57,430 | -0.4% | High school | | 30 | [Stonemason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stonemason) | $57,390 | -3.0% | High school | Full record for any row, including wage percentiles and state-level pay: https://nuecareer.com/careers/{slug} or https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/{slug}. --- 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/collections/highest-paying-jobs-in-construction