Construction Trades Workers
Occupation group · SOC minor group
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/occupation-groups/construction-trades-workers/context.md directly.
Construction Trades Workers is one of the 98 SOC minor groups — the middle tier of the U.S. Standard Occupational Classification, sitting between the broad job families and individual occupations. It belongs to the Construction and Extraction Occupations family and contains 31 detailed occupations employing about 5,147,840 people, with a median wage of $56,020 across them. BLS projects employment in this group to change +5.6% between 2024 and 2034 , with roughly 535,300 openings a year.
Occupations in this group
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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| Glaziers | $55,440 | 57,000 | +3.3% | 3% |
| Brickmasons and Blockmasons | $60,800 | 53,520 | +3.2% | 0% |
| Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators | $51,650 | 45,680 | +3.2% | 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% |
| Pipelayers | $48,710 | 33,580 | -4.1% | 0% |
| Solar Photovoltaic Installers | $51,860 | 28,280 | +42.1% | 11% |
| Insulation Workers, Mechanical | $57,250 | 25,640 | +4.7% | 5% |
| Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles | $54,340 | 24,850 | +9.5% | 0% |
| Plasterers and Stucco Masons | $56,020 | 20,880 | +4.1% | 4% |
| Carpet Installers | $49,850 | 14,980 | -9.6% | 3% |
| Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers | $59,280 | 14,140 | +4.6% | 0% |
| Tapers | $64,700 | 12,500 | +0.1% | 0% |
| Boilermakers | $73,340 | 10,170 | -2.4% | 0% |
| Stonemasons | $51,990 | 8,750 | -3.0% | 0% |
| Floor Sanders and Finishers | $49,150 | 4,140 | +2.6% | 0% |
| Pile Driver Operators | $70,510 | 3,040 | +4.3% | 0% |
| Paperhangers | $48,260 | 1,520 | +5.3% | 0% |
| Terrazzo Workers and Finishers | $57,260 | 1,450 | -11.1% | 2% |
AI exposure across this group
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 group it is 3% — 3rd percentile of the 98 groups. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages -1.44 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.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Construction Trades Workers." 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/occupation-groups/construction-trades-workers
Singulariki. (2026). Construction Trades Workers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/occupation-groups/construction-trades-workers
@misc{singulariki-construction-trades-workers,
title = {Construction Trades Workers},
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/occupation-groups/construction-trades-workers}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.