Construction labor cost by state
Construction trades earn a national average of $65,360 a year (2025). It runs highest in Hawaii ($84,200) and lowest in Arkansas ($48,650) — a gap that moves the labor half of every quote. Click a column to sort.
| Alabama | $51,630 | ×0.87 |
| Alaska | $81,250 | ×1.15 |
| Arizona | $60,040 | ×0.95 |
| Arkansas | $48,650 | ×0.85 |
| California | $78,280 | ×1.12 |
| Colorado | $65,880 | ×1.00 |
| Connecticut | $73,050 | ×1.07 |
| Delaware | $62,660 | ×0.98 |
| District of Columbia | $74,160 | ×1.08 |
| Florida | $55,570 | ×0.91 |
| Georgia | $56,400 | ×0.92 |
| Hawaii | $84,200 | ×1.17 |
| Idaho | $58,890 | ×0.94 |
| Illinois | $81,670 | ×1.15 |
| Indiana | $66,150 | ×1.01 |
| Iowa | $62,070 | ×0.97 |
| Kansas | $60,090 | ×0.95 |
| Kentucky | $57,840 | ×0.93 |
| Louisiana | $54,940 | ×0.90 |
| Maine | $62,660 | ×0.98 |
| Maryland | $65,180 | ×1.00 |
| Massachusetts | $81,330 | ×1.15 |
| Michigan | $65,130 | ×1.00 |
| Minnesota | $75,150 | ×1.09 |
| Mississippi | $51,200 | ×0.87 |
| Missouri | $67,580 | ×1.02 |
| Montana | $63,680 | ×0.98 |
| Nebraska | $58,440 | ×0.94 |
| Nevada | $68,570 | ×1.03 |
| New Hampshire | $64,230 | ×0.99 |
| New Jersey | $80,460 | ×1.14 |
| New Mexico | $56,240 | ×0.92 |
| New York | $76,640 | ×1.10 |
| North Carolina | $54,940 | ×0.90 |
| North Dakota | $66,820 | ×1.01 |
| Ohio | $65,900 | ×1.00 |
| Oklahoma | $55,120 | ×0.91 |
| Oregon | $75,990 | ×1.10 |
| Pennsylvania | $66,410 | ×1.01 |
| Rhode Island | $70,030 | ×1.04 |
| South Carolina | $55,410 | ×0.91 |
| South Dakota | $54,930 | ×0.90 |
| Tennessee | $56,510 | ×0.92 |
| Texas | $55,200 | ×0.91 |
| Utah | $59,210 | ×0.94 |
| Vermont | $62,030 | ×0.97 |
| Virginia | $59,630 | ×0.95 |
| Washington | $82,360 | ×1.16 |
| West Virginia | $59,660 | ×0.95 |
| Wisconsin | $69,810 | ×1.04 |
| Wyoming | $64,200 | ×0.99 |
How we turn wages into a cost adjustment
The “project cost adjustment” is what we apply in every guide’s cost estimator — and in our per-state cost guides — when you pick your state. It’s built from real wage data, not a guess: State cost multiplier = 1 + laborShare × (state mean wage ÷ national mean wage − 1). Labor is blended at 0.6 because materials price closer to national; multiplier is a budgeting adjustment, not a quote.
So a state where trades earn 20% above the national average doesn’t make your whole project 20% pricier — materials cost about the same everywhere — but the labor share does move, and that’s what the adjustment captures.
Source
Wages are the annual mean for Construction and extraction occupations (SOC 47-0000), annual mean wage from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), 2025 release. See our methodology. Data pulled 2026-06-25. Pairs with our building material price tracker.
Free to use: download the data as CSV or read the full 2026 Construction Cost Report — republish or chart it with a link back.