Springfield construction workers earned a median annual wage of $53,000 per year, 6 percent above the national median, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Booming earnings come as construction employment hit an all-time high of more than 7.9 million people for the first six months of the year, according to the bureau. Investments flooded back into the housing sector after a decade of underinvestment following the 2008 housing crisis and the recession that followed.
Total construction spending in the United States amounted to $917.4 billion during the first six months of 2023. That marks an inflation-adjusted increase of 17 percent from the same period in 2020, when the onset of the coronavirus pandemic halted economic activity and disrupted supply chains, according to Construction Coverage.
“Construction has a reputation for hard jobs with no pay, but that's just not the case,” Megan Herzog, executive director of the Springfield Contractors Association, said by phone Sept. 18.
“Construction has been paying more than most people think construction has been paying,” Herzog said.
