- The middle half earn between $32.19 and $49.43 an hour.
- Pennsylvania ranks 19th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Pennsylvania pays more than 4 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 26,860 construction supervisors on payrolls in Pennsylvania.
- At the state median wage, a contracting business needs to bill about $139.43 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Construction Supervisor pay in Pennsylvania, bottom to top
BLS calls this group first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers: the foremen and crew leads who run the work on site.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $28.09 | $58,430 | $25.62 |
| 25th percentile | $32.19 | $66,940 | $30.48 |
| Median | $39.20 | $81,540 | $38.42 |
| 75th percentile | $49.43 | $102,810 | $48.78 |
| 90th percentile | $64.01 | $133,140 | $61.66 |
| Average (mean) | $43.07 | $89,590 | $41.56 |
From the bottom tenth ($28.09) to the top tenth ($64.01), the top of the scale pays about 2.3 times the bottom in Pennsylvania, close to the 2.4 times spread for construction supervisors nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $28.09 against $25.62 at the bottom tenth, and $64.01 against $61.66 at the top.
The average wage, $43.07, sits 10% 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 supervisor makes.
How Pennsylvania compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $81,540 in Pennsylvania against $79,920 nationally, $1,620 more.
In the state ranking, Pennsylvania sits 19th, between Nevada ($39.42) and North Dakota ($39.12). The range runs from $29.44 in Arkansas to $52.68 in Washington.
Against its neighboring states, Pennsylvania is in the middle: New Jersey and New York pay more, and Delaware, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia pay less.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $39.20 | $81,540 | |
| Delaware | $38.99 | $81,100 | −$0.21 an hour |
| Maryland | $37.87 | $78,760 | −$1.33 an hour |
| New Jersey | $50.73 | $105,510 | +$11.53 an hour |
| New York | $46.01 | $95,700 | +$6.81 an hour |
| Ohio | $38.26 | $79,580 | −$0.94 an hour |
| West Virginia | $38.49 | $80,060 | −$0.71 an hour |
How many construction supervisors work in Pennsylvania
About 26,860 construction supervisors work on payrolls in Pennsylvania, 3.3% of the 812,210 nationwide, the 6th largest count among the states.
That is 4.4 of every 1,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a contracting business in Pennsylvania should charge
Say you run a contracting business in Pennsylvania and pay the state median of $39.20 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 | $39.20 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $87,774 |
| Break-even rate | ($87,774 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $118.52 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $118.52 ÷ 0.85 | $139.43 |
That is $139.43 per billable hour, 3.6 times the wage, and $1.37 more than the $138.06 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $49.43 in Pennsylvania, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $157.40.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $32.19, the rate only drops to $127.12.
At this wage the pay itself is the biggest part of the price, so every raise shows up in the rate: a dollar more an hour adds about $1.76 per billed hour.
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 47-1011, first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, 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 supervisor salary by state.