Construction Industry Overview

The US commercial and heavy construction industry comprises approximately 80,000 firms with about $545 billion in total annual revenue, according to Hoovers. Major creators of construction jobs include Bechtel, Fluor, Jacobs Engineering, Peter Kiewit Sons’ and Turner Construction. Additional jobs in construction are found in the residential sector, with 170,000 business locations bringing in about $325 billion in annual revenue, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Construction Job Market

Careers in construction are sharply segmented by occupation. Carpenters held just over 1 million jobs in 2010, while construction managers held about 523,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These two construction occupations alone are projected to add a total of more than 280,000 jobs from 2010 to 2020.

Leading trades jobs in construction are brick masons, carpenters, drywall installers, electricians, glaziers, insulation installers, painters, plasterers, plumbers and roofers.

Other construction job opportunities include construction estimator, construction project manager, construction inspector, construction equipment operator and various engineering roles.

The market for construction employment has been among the hardest hit of US industries since the recession began in 2007. When the industry hit bottom, 5.5 million people were employed in construction -- 2.2 million fewer than the all-time high in 2006. In 2011 and 2012, demand for construction work had recovered only modestly due to the glut of commercial and residential building stock in most markets.

Construction Salaries

Wages for work in construction vary substantially by trade. Median annual wages across all construction and extraction occupations in May 2011 were $39,820, according to the BLS. The middle 50 percent earned between $29,720 and $56,130. The top 10 percent earned more than $73,000.

Median wages for construction managers were $84,240 in May 2011, with the middle 50 percent earning between $64,780 and $112,020 and the top 10 percent making $149,070, the BLS reports.