The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, known as OEWS, reports what employers in the Philadelphia area pay workers in each occupation. Its May 2025 estimates, which BLS posted in May 2026, put the median hourly wage for construction and extraction occupations in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area at $30.56. The median is the middle wage, with half of workers earning more and half less. Across all occupations in the metro area, the median was $26.11.
Wages by occupation
The table lists 23 occupations a general or specialty contractor around Conshohocken is likely to employ, sorted by median hourly wage.
| Occupation | SOC code | Employment | Median hourly wage | Mean hourly wage | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elevator and escalator installers and repairers | 47-4021 | 540 | $63.77 | $60.64 | $126,140 |
| Construction managers | 11-9021 | 3,390 | $60.09 | $64.96 | $135,120 |
| Structural iron and steel workers | 47-2221 | 800 | $49.68 | $44.63 | $92,840 |
| First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers | 47-1011 | 10,700 | $46.08 | $47.80 | $99,420 |
| Cost estimators | 13-1051 | 4,190 | $38.40 | $41.97 | $87,290 |
| Sheet metal workers | 47-2211 | 1,530 | $37.09 | $38.93 | $80,970 |
| Brickmasons and blockmasons | 47-2021 | 1,210 | $36.52 | $37.72 | $78,460 |
| Construction and building inspectors | 47-4011 | 2,900 | $36.40 | $36.82 | $76,580 |
| Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters | 47-2152 | 7,150 | $35.99 | $40.22 | $83,660 |
| Electricians | 47-2111 | 10,090 | $35.86 | $39.29 | $81,720 |
| Tile and stone setters | 47-2044 | 390 | $34.01 | $33.40 | $69,480 |
| Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators | 47-2073 | 5,620 | $32.12 | $36.16 | $75,200 |
| Heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers | 49-9021 | 8,610 | $31.05 | $33.38 | $69,440 |
| Glaziers | 47-2121 | 710 | $29.90 | $33.71 | $70,120 |
| Carpenters | 47-2031 | 14,260 | $29.70 | $31.70 | $65,930 |
| Drywall and ceiling tile installers | 47-2081 | 980 | $29.46 | $29.64 | $61,660 |
| Cement masons and concrete finishers | 47-2051 | 1,870 | $29.28 | $31.66 | $65,860 |
| Roofers | 47-2181 | 1,530 | $28.72 | $29.29 | $60,930 |
| Painters, construction and maintenance | 47-2141 | 3,360 | $27.60 | $27.79 | $57,810 |
| Construction laborers | 47-2061 | 14,580 | $26.50 | $28.34 | $58,940 |
| Helpers, pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters | 47-3015 | 420 | $21.43 | $21.81 | $45,370 |
| Helpers, carpenters | 47-3012 | 340 | $19.84 | $20.38 | $42,380 |
| Helpers, electricians | 47-3013 | 580 | $18.58 | $19.46 | $40,470 |
Construction laborers and carpenters are the largest groups in the table, with 14,580 and 14,260 jobs. Their median hourly wages were $26.50 and $29.70. Electricians, with 10,090 jobs, had a median of $35.86. Construction managers had a median of $60.09 an hour, and cost estimators $38.40.
The mean, or average, sits above the median for 20 of the 23 occupations in the table. When that happens, a smaller group of higher earners is pulling the average up. For electricians the mean was $39.29 against a median of $35.86. For plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters it was $40.22 against $35.99.
The helper occupations show the gap between a helper and the trade they assist. Helpers to electricians had a median of $18.58 an hour, about half the electricians’ median. Helpers to carpenters had a median of $19.84. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, with 10,700 jobs, had a median of $46.08.
Across the whole construction and extraction group, BLS counted 90,110 jobs in the metro area, with a mean hourly wage of $34.78 and a mean annual wage of $72,350.
BLS did not release wage estimates for carpet installers or for reinforcing iron and rebar workers in this area, so they are left out of the table.
What the numbers measure
OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay. In its technical notes for the May 2024 estimates, BLS says they include base rate, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay and tips, and exclude overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and the employer’s cost of benefits. Annual figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours, so a mean annual wage assumes a full year of 40-hour weeks.
The survey counts wage and salary workers only. Self-employed workers, and owners and partners of unincorporated firms, are not included. The same technical notes describe a sample of employers surveyed over three years, with wages from the earlier panels adjusted to the reference date.
Each estimate carries a relative standard error, a measure of how precise it is, where a smaller number means a more precise estimate. For the employment counts in this table it runs from 2.5% for first-line supervisors to 30.1% for helpers of pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters. Treat counts and wages for the small occupations with more caution than those for the large ones.
The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area spans parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The OEWS query system returned no May 2025 estimates for the Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County division, so the metro area is the closest published geography to Conshohocken.
Using the table
- When you set a pay rate for a new hire, compare it with the median and the mean for the occupation, and remember that both leave out overtime and benefits.
- When you build labor rates into an estimate, add your own burden for payroll taxes, insurance and benefits on top of the wage. OEWS does not include the employer’s cost of benefits.
- Public work is different. On a project covered by Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Act, the rate comes from the Department of Labor and Industry’s determination for that project, and the department says a prevailing rate can combine cash wages and fringe benefits. See the prevailing wage guide.
BLS publishes new OEWS estimates once a year. The full tables, including the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentile wages, are on the BLS OEWS tables page.