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Salaries Are on the Rise in the Construction Industry

12/12/2018 Press Release

ALACHUA, Fla. — Skilled craft professionals continue to earn high wages, according to NCCER’s 2018 Construction Craft Salary Survey. More than 130 industrial and commercial construction companies across the U.S., representing over 350,000 employees, participated in the survey. The individual craft areas reported provide average annual salaries, not including overtime, per diem, bonuses or other incentives.

Of the 32 construction positions surveyed, average annual salaries ranged from $47,700 to $92,500. Project supervisors and program managers topped the list, earning over $88,000 and $92,500 respectively. Professions earning more than $65,000 include boilermaker, mobile crane operator, tower crane operator, millwright, industrial electrician, power line worker, pipe welder, instrumentation technician and combo welder. Additionally, seven more craft areas made more than $60,000 per year. The most significant pay increase was HVAC technician, up 20 percent from previous years, with sheet metal worker a close second at an 18 percent increase. Since many craft professionals receive additional pay incentives, their take-home pay is typically much greater than these incomes reflected.

This survey is one of many resources NCCER and its Build Your Future initiative offer to promote construction careers and help build a pipeline of qualified craft professionals. Complete results are available at nccer.org/research.
The organizations that take part in NCCER’s survey do so voluntarily, and all specific company information remains confidential. Only positions which received enough responses to calculate a valid average are included.

About NCCER NCCER is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) education foundation created by the construction industry to develop standardized curriculum with portable credentials and to help address the skilled construction workforce shortage. NCCER is recognized by the industry as the training, assessment, certification and career development standard for the construction and maintenance craft professional. For more information, visit nccer.org or contact NCCER customer service at 888.622.3720.

Download the Construction Craft Salary results here.

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