By BEX Staff for AZBEX
New data for construction wage growth shows Arizona’s two major metropolitan areas are among the Top 15 cities tracked.
The report by Construction Coverage shows Tucson construction workers saw wages increase by 5.7% over the last five years, placing the city at Number 7 nationwide. Phoenix, meanwhile, came in at Number 15, with construction wages increasing 3.1%.
California’s San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro saw the highest construction wage growth at 8.7%.
By state, Arizona ranked Number 7, showing construction wage growth of 3.2%. Maine took the top spot at 6.2%.
The average construction and extraction industry salary in the U.S. was $61,500 in 2003, versus $51,220 in 2018.
Inflation has eviscerated the real-world benefit of those gains, however. According to the report, “While on a nominal basis, this marks a 20.1% increase in pay, when adjusted for inflation, it represents a 1.1% decrease in purchasing power.”
It goes on to say, “Among the 22 major occupational groups tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12 recorded growth in purchasing power between 2018 and 2023, while 10 (including construction and extraction) showed declines.”
Nationally, management, architecture and engineering occupations reported the most significant decreases in pay.
Across all occupations, after adjusting for inflation, jobs saw a positive change in wages of 3.8% across the five-year sample period.