Construction Laborers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,558
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$9,162
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,728
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$57,720
Kept after tax
$48,558
Worth in national money
$44,728
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for construction laborers is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $57,720, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 22.5% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 342.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $57,720 the take-home is $48,558. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $44,728 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $61,320, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For construction laborers, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $57,720, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 22.5% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, construction laborers sits at 342 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $48,558 for construction laborers, from $57,720. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,728. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $61,320 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Construction Laborers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,110 |
| This salary | $57,720 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Washington | $48,558 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,558 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,241 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $57,720 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,339 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of construction laborers in Washington earn under $57,720 and half over. The published range runs $39,930 at the tenth percentile to $95,110 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,558 take-home in Washington comes from $57,720. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 342 of 493.
- Two cautions on $44,728, the adjusted value of that $57,720 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 342 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for construction laborers in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,930 to $95,110; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $48,558, from $57,720, assumes a single Washington filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 342 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- This $44,728 adjusted figure, worked from $57,720, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 342 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 342 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $61,320, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $39,930 at the bottom tenth to $95,110 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $44,728 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $48,558 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Washington is $61,320. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($39,930) and the ninetieth ($95,110) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $44,728 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $48,558 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.