- The middle half earn between $22.14 and $34.68 an hour.
- Wisconsin ranks 12th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Wisconsin pays more than 2 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 20,330 construction laborers on payrolls in Wisconsin.
- At the state median wage, a contracting business needs to bill about $117.95 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Construction Laborer pay in Wisconsin, 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 | $18.26 | $37,990 | $16.87 |
| 25th percentile | $22.14 | $46,060 | $18.57 |
| Median | $26.97 | $56,100 | $22.66 |
| 75th percentile | $34.68 | $72,130 | $28.72 |
| 90th percentile | $38.90 | $80,920 | $37.54 |
| Average (mean) | $27.87 | $57,960 | $25.02 |
From the bottom tenth ($18.26) to the top tenth ($38.90), the top of the scale pays about 2.1 times the bottom in Wisconsin, close to the 2.2 times spread for construction laborers nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $18.26 against $16.87 at the bottom tenth, and $38.90 against $37.54 at the top.
The average, $27.87, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Wisconsin compares with other states
Over a full year, the Wisconsin median of $56,100 is $8,980 more than the national $47,120.
In the state ranking, Wisconsin sits 12th, between Missouri ($27.28) and Ohio ($26.96). The range runs from $17.74 in Alabama to $37.07 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, Wisconsin is in the middle: Illinois and Minnesota pay more, and Iowa and Michigan pay less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Wisconsin. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many construction laborers work in Wisconsin
About 20,330 construction laborers work on payrolls in Wisconsin, 1.9% of the 1,096,780 nationwide, the 21st largest count among the states.
That is 6.9 of every 1,000 jobs in Wisconsin, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a contracting business in Wisconsin should charge
Higher wages in Wisconsin go straight into the price. Take a contracting business in Wisconsin paying the state median of $26.97 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 | $26.97 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $60,389 |
| Break-even rate | ($60,389 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $100.26 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $100.26 ÷ 0.85 | $117.95 |
That is $117.95 per billable hour, 4.4 times the wage, and $7.57 more than the $110.38 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $34.68 in Wisconsin, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $131.49.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.14, the rate only drops to $109.47.
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.