- The middle half earn between $21.96 and $29.17 an hour.
- North Dakota ranks 22nd of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- North Dakota pays more than 1 of its 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 5,050 construction laborers on payrolls in North Dakota.
- At the state median wage, a contracting business needs to bill about $112.02 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Construction Laborer pay in North Dakota, 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 | $18.75 | $38,990 | $16.87 |
| 25th percentile | $21.96 | $45,680 | $18.57 |
| Median | $23.59 | $49,070 | $22.66 |
| 75th percentile | $29.17 | $60,680 | $28.72 |
| 90th percentile | $34.23 | $71,210 | $37.54 |
| Average (mean) | $25.55 | $53,150 | $25.02 |
Pay is bunched up in North Dakota. The top tenth earn $34.23 an hour or more, about 1.8 times the $18.75 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 ($18.75 against $16.87) but the ceiling is lower ($34.23 against $37.54), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage, $25.55, sits 8% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical construction laborer makes.
How North Dakota compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $49,070 in North Dakota against $47,120 nationally, $1,950 more.
In the state ranking, North Dakota sits 22nd, between Pennsylvania ($23.75) and Nevada ($23.55). The range runs from $17.74 in Alabama to $37.07 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, North Dakota is in the middle: Minnesota and Montana pay more, and South Dakota pays less.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against North Dakota |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | $23.59 | $49,070 | |
| Minnesota | $28.97 | $60,260 | +$5.38 an hour |
| Montana | $23.96 | $49,830 | +$0.37 an hour |
| South Dakota | $21.98 | $45,710 | −$1.61 an hour |
How many construction laborers work in North Dakota
About 5,050 construction laborers work on payrolls in North Dakota, 0.5% of the 1,096,780 nationwide, the 40th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 11.8 of every 1,000 jobs in North Dakota, 1.7 times the national share.
What a contracting business in North Dakota should charge
Say you run a contracting business in North Dakota and pay the state median of $23.59 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on 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 | $23.59 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $52,821 |
| Break-even rate | ($52,821 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $95.21 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $95.21 ÷ 0.85 | $112.02 |
That is $112.02 per billable hour, 4.7 times the wage, and $1.63 more than the $110.38 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $29.17 in North Dakota, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $121.82.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $21.96, the rate only drops to $109.15.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
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.