Skip to content
Singulariki

Construction and Extraction Occupations

Job family · SOC major group

Construction and Extraction Occupations is one of the 23 SOC major groups — the top level of the U.S. Standard Occupational Classification, the official scheme every detailed occupation rolls up to. It contains 65 occupations employing about 7,727,430 people, with a median wage of $55,730 across its occupations. BLS projects employment in this family to change +5.0% between 2024 and 2034 , with roughly 779,600 openings a year.

Occupation groups in this family

This family divides into 5 SOC minor groups — tighter clusters of related occupations. Ranked by U.S. employment.

Occupations in this family

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 40 occupations in Construction and Extraction Occupations. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons Helpers--Roofers Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers Helpers--Extraction Workers Pile Driver Operators Roofers Structural Iron and Steel Workers Roof Bolters, Mining Construction Laborers Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers Brickmasons and Blockmasons AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
Each occupation in this family with both an AI task-overlap score and a wage, plotted by task-overlap percentile (horizontal) and median-pay percentile (vertical). Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation.

Ranked by U.S. employment (BLS OEWS May 2024). Projected change is BLS 2024–34; AI exposure is the OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" human beta rating (share of an occupation's tasks where an LLM with tools could cut the time to do them by at least half).

Occupation Median pay Employment 2024–34 AI exposure
Construction Laborers $46,730 1,057,660 +7.3% 3%
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers $78,690 806,080 +5.3% 27%
Solar Energy Installation Managers $78,690 806,080 +5.3% 27%
Electricians $62,350 742,580 +9.5% 15%
Carpenters $59,310 697,740 +4.5% 9%
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators $58,710 469,270 +3.6% 9%
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters $62,970 455,940 +4.5% 7%
Solar Thermal Installers and Technicians $62,970 455,940 +4.5% 7%
Painters, Construction and Maintenance $48,660 224,180 +3.8% 3%
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers $54,660 205,230 +1.8% 0%
Highway Maintenance Workers $49,070 151,750 +3.0% 0%
Construction and Building Inspectors $72,120 137,210 -0.8% 43%
Energy Auditors $72,120 137,210 -0.8% 43%
Roofers $50,970 136,740 +5.9% 0%
Sheet Metal Workers $60,850 117,470 +2.4% 4%
Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers $58,140 82,900 +4.2% 2%
Structural Iron and Steel Workers $62,700 64,720 +4.4% 0%
Helpers--Electricians $39,890 64,440 +0.2% 0%
Glaziers $55,440 57,000 +3.3% 3%
Brickmasons and Blockmasons $60,800 53,520 +3.2% 0%
Hazardous Materials Removal Workers $48,490 50,570 +1.0% 3%
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators $51,650 45,680 +3.2% 0%
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas $47,510 45,330 +2.5% 0%
Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas $57,980 44,120 +0.4% 15%
Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters $39,270 43,640 +4.9% 0%
Tile and Stone Setters $52,240 38,740 +10.1% 4%
Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall $48,680 38,610 +3.8% 10%
Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining $52,550 34,210 -0.4% 0%
Pipelayers $48,710 33,580 -4.1% 0%
Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners $49,140 29,050 +7.6% 9%
Solar Photovoltaic Installers $51,860 28,280 +42.1% 11%
Insulation Workers, Mechanical $57,250 25,640 +4.7% 5%
Helpers, Construction Trades, All Other $40,760 25,510 +4.4% —
Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles $54,340 24,850 +9.5% 0%
Helpers--Carpenters $41,600 24,610 +4.5% 0%
Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers $106,580 23,340 +5.0% 8%
Fence Erectors $46,940 22,640 +4.6% 3%
Plasterers and Stucco Masons $56,020 20,880 +4.1% 4%
Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas $59,600 17,410 +2.9% 11%
Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators $67,370 16,480 +1.6% 0%
Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters $46,480 15,660 -10.5% 0%
Carpet Installers $49,850 14,980 -9.6% 3%
Continuous Mining Machine Operators $63,380 14,340 +0.6% 6%
Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers $59,280 14,140 +4.6% 0%
Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas $65,010 13,090 +0.2% 3%
Tapers $64,700 12,500 +0.1% 0%
Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas $62,740 11,040 +0.5% 0%
Boilermakers $73,340 10,170 -2.4% 0%
Stonemasons $51,990 8,750 -3.0% 0%
Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons $38,140 7,220 +2.3% 0%
Helpers--Extraction Workers $48,400 6,720 -1.7% 7%
Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining $68,860 6,130 -22.3% 8%
Extraction Workers, All Other $50,110 6,070 +1.4% —
Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters $59,110 5,680 -0.9% 11%
Helpers--Roofers $40,590 5,170 +5.7% 0%
Floor Sanders and Finishers $49,150 4,140 +2.6% 0%
Underground Mining Machine Operators, All Other $67,220 3,480 -6.1% —
Rock Splitters, Quarry $47,460 3,080 +4.4% 8%
Pile Driver Operators $70,510 3,040 +4.3% 0%
Roof Bolters, Mining $76,640 2,230 -34.2% 0%
Paperhangers $48,260 1,520 +5.3% 0%
Terrazzo Workers and Finishers $57,260 1,450 -11.1% 2%
Construction and Related Workers, All Other — — — 20%
Segmental Pavers — — — 8%
Weatherization Installers and Technicians — — — 20%

AI exposure across this family

Two published studies estimate how exposed each occupation is to AI. The OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" study rates the share of an occupation's tasks an LLM (with tools) could speed up by half or more; averaged across this family it is 6% — 2nd percentile of the 23 families. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages -1.30 here.

Exposure measures where AI could assist tasks — it is not a prediction that these jobs will be automated. High exposure often means augmentation (faster work), and many high-exposure occupations are also projected to grow.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Construction and Extraction Occupations." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/job-families/construction-and-extraction-occupations

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Construction and Extraction Occupations. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/job-families/construction-and-extraction-occupations

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-construction-and-extraction-occupations,
  title  = {Construction and Extraction Occupations},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/job-families/construction-and-extraction-occupations}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.