- The middle half earn between $22.92 and $34.98 an hour.
- Only 6 states pay construction laborers more at the median.
- Connecticut pays more than 2 of its 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 7,360 construction laborers on payrolls in Connecticut.
- At the state median wage, a contracting business needs to bill about $119.81 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Construction Laborer pay in Connecticut, bottom to top
Construction laborers do the site work on a crew: demolition, digging, hauling and cleanup, and helping the trades. Separate helper categories for specific trades are not included.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $20.47 | $42,580 | $16.87 |
| 25th percentile | $22.92 | $47,670 | $18.57 |
| Median | $28.03 | $58,290 | $22.66 |
| 75th percentile | $34.98 | $72,750 | $28.72 |
| 90th percentile | $36.79 | $76,520 | $37.54 |
| Average (mean) | $28.49 | $59,250 | $25.02 |
Pay is bunched up in Connecticut. The top tenth earn $36.79 an hour or more, about 1.8 times the $20.47 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.2 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
The floor is higher than nationally ($20.47 against $16.87) but the ceiling is lower ($36.79 against $37.54), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $28.49, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Connecticut compares with other states
Over a full year, the Connecticut median of $58,290 is $11,170 more than the national $47,120.
In the state ranking, Connecticut sits 7th, between Minnesota ($28.97) and Alaska ($27.91). The range runs from $17.74 in Alabama to $37.07 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, Connecticut is in the middle: Massachusetts pays more, and New York and Rhode Island pay less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Connecticut. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Connecticut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | $28.03 | $58,290 | |
| Massachusetts | $30.48 | $63,390 | +$2.45 an hour |
| New York | $26.89 | $55,930 | −$1.14 an hour |
| Rhode Island | $27.52 | $57,240 | −$0.51 an hour |
How many construction laborers work in Connecticut
About 7,360 construction laborers work on payrolls in Connecticut, 0.7% of the 1,096,780 nationwide, the 38th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 4.3 per 1,000 jobs, 0.62 times the national share.
What a contracting business in Connecticut should charge
Higher wages in Connecticut go straight into the price. Take a contracting business in Connecticut paying the state median of $28.03 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its starting numbers (40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit).
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $28.03 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $62,763 |
| Break-even rate | ($62,763 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $101.84 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $101.84 ÷ 0.85 | $119.81 |
That is $119.81 per billable hour, 4.3 times the wage, and $9.43 more than the $110.38 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $34.98 in Connecticut, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $132.02.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.92, the rate only drops to $110.84.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-2061, construction laborers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: construction laborer salary by state.