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The U.S. construction industry has seen a surge in demand in recent years.
The intense real estate market of the last several years has highlighted the shortage of housing stock in the United States. Between 2020 and 2022, total private construction spending grew rapidly, driven by record levels of new housing starts. In April 2022, housing starts reached their highest levels in more than 15 years before declining to pre-pandemic levels due to rising mortgage rates. But just as private construction activity plateaued, funds for public construction projects became available—notably through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—boosting public sector construction spending.
Amidst heightened demand, construction companies have struggled to find sufficient labor. The Associated Builders and Contractors, an industry trade association, estimated a shortage of more than 500,000 workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 295,000 openings for construction jobs as of June 2024.
In response to the labor shortage, the industry is increasingly drawing on a historically underrepresented segment of the population: women.
Female Employment in Construction
The share of women working in the construction industry has more than doubled since the 1960s
Source: Construction Coverage analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data | Image Credit: Construction Coverage
Construction has historically been a male-dominated sector. In the 1960s, only about 6% of construction industry workers were women. This figure began to rise sharply between 1970 and the early 1990s, coinciding with increasing rates of female labor force participation overall. Between then and the mid-2000s, female representation in the construction sector remained relatively steady, aside from some fluctuations during the Great Recession. However, since around 2016, the percentage of women in the construction industry has consistently increased. Today, 14.3% of all workers and 10.2% of full-time workers in the sector are women.
Top-Paying Occupations for Women in the Construction Industry
In the construction industry, women are disproportionately concentrated in high-paying jobs
Source: Construction Coverage analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data | Image Credit: Construction Coverage
While women still have low representation within construction trade occupations—such as plumbers, carpenters, masons, and electricians—they have disproportionately high representation in some of the industry’s best-paying jobs. For instance, lawyers in the construction sector are the industry’s top-paid workers, with median annual wages of $200,000 for men and $180,000 for women. Women account for more than 31% of construction industry attorneys, approximately three times higher than their overall representation in the sector. This trend is seen across many of the best-paying occupations for women in the construction sector, including analysts, scientists, CEOs, real estate brokers, architects, civil engineers, and sales managers.
Due to women’s relatively high concentrations in the sector’s top-paying jobs, the median wage for full-time women working in construction exceeds that for all full-time working women in 39 states. Additionally, the gender wage gap in the construction industry is 3.6%, compared to 18% across all full-time workers.
Outside of occupation, location is a critical determinant of construction industry pay. Nationally, full-time female workers earn $52,478 annually in the sector, but pay varies widely by state. Additionally, regional differences in cost of living affect how far a given salary will go in a given location. To find the best-paying states, researchers at Construction Coverage—a website that compares construction software and insurance—analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to rank states according to the median annual wage for full-time female workers in the construction industry, adjusted for cost-of-living differences.
Here are the best-paying states for women in construction.
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15. Nevada
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $56,392
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $54,352
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $47,235
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 10.4%
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14. Wisconsin
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $56,477
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $52,134
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $49,360
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 8.6%
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13. Vermont
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $57,546
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $58,177
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $53,635
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 8.2%
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12. Colorado
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $57,565
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $58,885
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $56,646
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 11.2%
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11. Maryland
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $57,627
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $60,484
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $65,812
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 11.3%
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10. Hawaii
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $57,895
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $64,170
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $52,822
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 12.5%
Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
9. Kansas
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $58,193
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $52,351
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $46,499
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 8.9%
Photo Credit: Jacob Boomsma / Shutterstock
8. North Dakota
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $58,420
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $51,793
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $49,122
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 8.7%
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7. Illinois
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $58,732
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $59,470
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $54,296
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 9.2%
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6. Connecticut
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $60,029
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $63,878
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $64,275
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 8.1%
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5. New Jersey
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $60,176
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $65,446
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $63,858
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 9.0%
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4. Minnesota
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $60,282
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $58,909
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $56,638
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 10.1%
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3. Washington
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $62,139
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $68,259
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $59,756
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 11.1%
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2. Massachusetts
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $64,625
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $70,695
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $68,081
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 8.8%
Photo Credit: Jacob Boomsma / Shutterstock
1. Alaska
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted): $66,132
- Median wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $67,447
- Median wage for women across all occupations (actual): $58,017
- Female share of total construction industry employment: 16.3%
Methodology
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To find the best-paying states for women in construction, researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey and cost-of-living data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’s 2022 Regional Price Parities dataset. States were ranked according to the median annual wage for full-time women working in the construction industry, adjusted for cost of living differences. Researchers also calculated the median annual wage for full-time women across all occupations and the female share of total construction industry full-time employment. To improve the reliability of the results, 5-year estimates were used to calculate state-level statistics, while 1-year estimates were used to calculate national-level statistics.
For complete results, see Best-Paying States for Women in Construction on Construction Coverage.
