States with Highest and Quickest Rising Building Wages, 2024

Reflecting persistent long-term labor challenges, wages in building proceed to rise, typically outpacing and exceeding typical earnings in different industries. Not seasonally adjusted (NSA) common hourly earnings (AHE) in building elevated 5% since a yr in the past and approached the $38 mark in March 2024, based on the most recent Present Employment Statistics (CES) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In Massachusetts, AHE in building approached $49 (NSA) per hour in February, and ten extra states reported hourly charges exceeding $41. In 4 states, building wage development surpassed 8% (NSA), as of February, the most recent month for which the state-level AHE information can be found.

Common hourly earnings (AHE) in building range significantly throughout 43 states that report these information.
A number of the highest AHE are recorded by states in Northeast and alongside the Pacific coast. As of February 2024, 9 states report common earnings (NSA) exceeding $43 per hour, together with: Massachusetts – $48.9, Washington – $47.3, New Jersey – $45.6, Alaska – $45.0, Illinois – $44.9, New York – $44.9, Rhode Island – $44.7, California – $44.1, and Oregon – $43. On the similar time, the US common hourly earnings in building are $37.7 (NSA).

On the different finish of the spectrum are largely Southern states, with the overwhelming majority reporting non-seasonally adjusted common hourly earnings in building underneath $34. The underside ten states, with the AHE at or beneath $32 per hour, embody seven states within the South. The bottom hourly wages are in neighboring Arkansas ($28.9) and Mississippi ($28), adopted by West Virginia ($30.8), South Carolina ($31.3), Florida ($31.4), Alabama ($31.5), New Mexico ($31.6), and Kentucky ($31.7). Maine and Oklahoma, with the AHE at $32 per hour, conclude the underside ten record.

Whereas variations in regional hourly charges mirror variation in the price of dwelling throughout states, amongst different issues, the quicker rising wages usually tend to point out particular labor markets which can be significantly tight. 12 months-over-year, all states however Wyoming (the place wages grew 11% in a previous yr however remained steady in the beginning of 2024) reported rising not seasonally adjusted hourly wages in February 2024. 4 states reported an annual enhance in hourly charges between 8% and 9% – Idaho, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Utah – by far outpacing the nationwide common development of building wages of 5% (NSA).  

As highlighted within the warmth map beneath, AHE grew quicker within the southern states, the place hourly earnings are usually decrease. The correlation evaluation confirms that, since a yr in the past, hourly earnings in states with decrease AHE had been extra more likely to develop quicker.