- The middle half earn between $22.51 and $37.25 an hour.
- Only 9 states pay construction laborers more at the median.
- Rhode Island pays less than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 2,110 construction laborers on payrolls in Rhode Island.
- At the state median wage, a contracting business needs to bill about $118.92 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Construction Laborer pay in Rhode Island, 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 | $18.98 | $39,480 | $16.87 |
| 25th percentile | $22.51 | $46,810 | $18.57 |
| Median | $27.52 | $57,240 | $22.66 |
| 75th percentile | $37.25 | $77,480 | $28.72 |
| 90th percentile | $42.61 | $88,620 | $37.54 |
| Average (mean) | $29.70 | $61,780 | $25.02 |
From the bottom tenth ($18.98) to the top tenth ($42.61), the top of the scale pays about 2.2 times the bottom in Rhode Island, close to the 2.2 times spread for construction laborers nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $18.98 against $16.87 at the bottom tenth, and $42.61 against $37.54 at the top.
The average wage, $29.70, 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 Rhode Island compares with other states
Over a full year, the Rhode Island median of $57,240 is $10,120 more than the national $47,120.
In the state ranking, Rhode Island sits 10th, between Washington ($27.75) and Missouri ($27.28). The range runs from $17.74 in Alabama to $37.07 in Hawaii.
Every one of the neighboring states pays construction laborers more than Rhode Island. The closest is Connecticut at $28.03, and the biggest gap is with Massachusetts.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Rhode Island. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Rhode Island |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | $27.52 | $57,240 | |
| Connecticut | $28.03 | $58,290 | +$0.51 an hour |
| Massachusetts | $30.48 | $63,390 | +$2.96 an hour |
How many construction laborers work in Rhode Island
Rhode Island has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 2,110 construction laborers on payrolls, 0.2% of the 1,096,780 nationwide.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 4.2 per 1,000 jobs, 0.60 times the national share.
What a contracting business in Rhode Island should charge
Higher wages in Rhode Island go straight into the price. Take a contracting business in Rhode Island paying the state median of $27.52 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 | $27.52 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $61,621 |
| Break-even rate | ($61,621 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $101.08 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $101.08 ÷ 0.85 | $118.92 |
That is $118.92 per billable hour, 4.3 times the wage, and $8.53 more than the $110.38 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $37.25 in Rhode Island, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $136.01.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.51, the rate only drops to $110.12.
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.