The Top States to Work in Construction: #8 North Dakota

North Dakota top states to work in construction

For the past year, Construction Junkie has been analyzing hourly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 25 different construction related professions. The goal was to highlight how workers were compensated in each of the U.S.’ 50 states.

We also counterbalanced the raw hourly wage data with the cost of living index of the states to determine how the pay construction workers in each state was counterbalanced by the cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health, and other miscellaneous costs. All cost of living adjustment data came from Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC).

We’ve previously published a list of The 10 Highest Paid Construction Jobs That Only Require High School Diploma, but we thought it would be interesting to examine each state individually to find out where construction workers can live most comfortably.

To follow along with our state-by-state breakdown of best states to work in construction, click here.

Rankings System

For the purpose of this list, each state’s ranking was determined by calculating the average ranking of hourly wages after being adjusted for cost of living for each of the 25 professions we examined.  There are, of course, many ways to determine how good a state is to work in, but, at the end of the day, all workers have to be able to provide for them and their families, so wages should play a large role. If you see a state ranked #51 in a certain category, that is because Washington DC was included in the original data set, but was not included in this series.

#8 North Dakota

Wellll, North Dakota will be certainly be enjoying these bragging rights. Not only do they land in the top 10 of the countdown, the Dakota to the south of them landed at #45. As the 19th largest state by land area, North Dakota is also ranked 47th in both population and density. It has a slightly lower than average cost of living, at 1.1% below the national average and 0.7% lower than South Dakota, according to MERIC.

After adjusting for the cost of living, North Dakota has 13 construction professions ranked in the top 10. The lowest ranked profession, carpenter, was only ranked 26th, making this an extremely top heavy state.

If you’d like to see the breakdown of a specific profession, click the link the spreadsheet below:

Best Construction Jobs in North Dakota

This list is determined by selecting the jobs that were ranked the highest:

1. Construction Supervisor

2. Welder

3. Insulation Worker

4. Brick & Block Mason

T 5. Electrician

T 5. Crane Operator

Worst Construction Jobs in North Dakota

This list is determined by selecting the jobs ranked the lowest:

1. Carpenter

2. Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Worker

3. Drywaller

T 4. Plumber

T 4. Construction Manager

Featured
welder
Average Hourly Wage of Welders, By State

Welders are essential on many construction jobs throughout the US, especially in bridge construction and high rise buildings. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) groups Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers into one category, but their jobs essentially boil down to joining and cutting metal. 

fire sprinkler
Average Hourly Wage of Security and Fire Systems Installers, By State

I had a request to cover fire suppression system installers on our weekly look at hourly wage data, but unfortunately the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't specifically break that profession out separately.  They do, however, have a category called Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers, which I believe will cover the category.

elevators
Average Hourly Wage of Elevator Installers, By State

Elevator installers and repairers do exactly that, install and repair elevators. As specific as the job is, it's actually the highest paid construction trade that doesn't require anything more than a high school diploma. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that the job outlook for the profession is expected to increase by 12% through the year 2026, which is higher than average.

iron-rods-reinforcing-bars-rods-steel-bars
Average Hourly Wage of Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers, By State

Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers, commonly referred to as "rod busters,"  are responsible for positioning and tying reinforcing steel rebar, cables, and mesh for use in concrete. Rebar workers are usually also responsible for bending and cutting the reinforcement material.

trench
Average Hourly Wage of Pipelayers, By State

Pipelayers, common teammates of heavy equipment operators, are responsible for laying pipe for storm, sanitary, or water systems. Pipelayers can work with a variety of different materials, including reinforced concrete panels (RCP), ductile iron, HDPE, and PVC. This is considered more of an exterior site work task, as opposed to plumbers, who run the piping on the interior side of buildings.  

concrete truck
Average Hourly Wage of Concrete Finishers, By State

Concrete finishers smooth and finish concrete surfaces like curbs, floors, and roads. Most are also responsible for cutting control and expansion joints as the concrete hardens.  OSHA's new silica dust regulations have added an additional wrinkle to the concrete finishers job, as they are now required to greatly limit their exposure to silica containing dust. 

Construction Cranes
Average Hourly Wage of Crane Operators, By State

Cranes can be some of the most dangerous pieces of equipment on any construction jobsite.  Not only do workers need to worry about working underneath loads being suspended by cranes, operators need to exercise extreme caution when working with heavy loads and extreme weather conditions.  Cranes are also pivotal in efficiently building multi-story buildings, especially high rise and supertall buildings.  The profession itself, at least for tower crane operators, can be fairly lonely though, as there's no buddy system up in the cab.  The long commute up to the top also restricts the amount of time operators can take breaks. 

floor
Average Hourly Wage of Floor Layers, By State

Floor layers are broken out into several different categories and this data pull specifically highlights "floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles."  This category most likely encapsulates vinyl tile or linoleum installations, whether they be strips, blocks, or sheets.  

insulation
Average Hourly Wage of Insulation Workers, By State

Insulation workers, specifically those that install floor, ceiling, and wall insulation typically learn their trade on the job.  Whether installing more traditional fiberglass insulation or spray foam insulation, these types of workers almost exclusively work indoors. Although there are also mechanical insulation workers, their numbers are broken out separately, as they make an average of $10,000 per year more than floor, wall, and ceiling insulators.

Solar Panels
Average Hourly Wage of Solar Panel Installers, By State

The solar photo-voltaic panel installation profession is one of the newest jobs on the construction site.  It's also considered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to be one of the fastest growing professions across any industry.  From 2016 to 2026, the BLS expects employment to rise 105 percent, when the average is only around 5 percent.