Construction Manager earnings, for both standard and industry specific positions, fall between $50,240 and $150,250, not including benefits, which often include:
- bonuses for timely completion of a project
- completing a project under-budget
- the use of the company vehicle during off-hours
If a construction manager hopes to command a median salary of $83,860, there are a few factors to consider, including the size, type and location of the project as well as the overall state of the economy. Construction managers are in residential, non-residential, civil engineering, building equipment and specialty construction and are responsible for coordinating all the work performed on the construction site. They must also coordinate all the people involved in a construction project such as architects, inspectors, clients, electricians, masons and others in various trades.
Types of Construction Managers
When looking at salaries, it is important to realize that a construction manager may be responsible for constructing everything from a dam that provides electricity for hundreds of thousands of people to an office building where multimillion deals are brokered every day. On the other hand, construction managers may oversee the building of a single-family home in a middle-income neighborhood or be responsible for stone, or masonry, work as a focal point to a room or as an exterior siding. Construction managers are grouped by building, special structure and sub-specialty categories. Occupational employment statistics, available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, offer up-to-date salary information by industry, type of construction and location.
Construction Managers: Building
The residential building industry encompasses all types of residential construction: apartment, multifamily and single family. It also includes the entire spectrum of types of homes from simple saltbox houses to mansions. Non-residential construction entails the construction of, as the name implies, all non-residential buildings, including hospitals, offices and factories. Residential construction managers earn the lowest median wage of the building construction managers; however, residential construction managers have a higher 90th percentile wage than non-residential construction managers. The average median wage for building construction managers is $82,615, with residential construction managers coming in at just over $80,000 and non-residential construction managers coming in at just over $85,000.
Construction Managers: Special Structures
Special construction managers are found in the following industries:
- Heavy and Civil Engineering
- Utility System
- Power and Communication Line
- Land Subdivision
- Highway, Street and Bridge Building Equipment
- Non-specified
Special construction projects include civil engineering projects such as bridges, power-plants, roads and dams. The average median wage for special structure construction managers is $84,688. The subdivision of land offers the highest annual median wage, $94,910, possibly because there are minimal resources involved with an opportunity for great return. Power and communication line construction managers earn the least annual median wage of the specialty trade, $80,310.
Construction Managers: Sub-Specialty
Sub-specialties include parts of construction common to many structures, including plumbing, heating, drywall, painting, roofing, masonry and electrical. Many of the specialties found in this group are trades and that distinction is evident in the lower median average wage. The average median wage for building construction managers is $80,801. Electrical and masonry construction managers average the highest mean wage of this group at $84,660. Roofing construction managers earn the lowest at $75,660; however, this may be due, in part, to the fact that many roofing construction managers do not have formal education or training.
Independent Contractors
Independent contractors, or construction managers that own their own businesses and work as sole proprietors, often garner higher than average median wages than their employed counterparts. The trade off in this is that benefits are more costly for the small business owner and the workload of operating the business falls on the construction manager.
Location, Location, Location
The cost of goods and services differs from one geographic area to the next. This translates into different salaries and benefits paid. The bottom five states with the lowest median salary for construction managers are:
- Mississippi: $59,040
- Idaho: $60,610
- Arkansas: $61,020
- Nebraska: $61,850
- Tennessee: $62,310
The top five states with the highest median salary for construction managers are:
- California: $103,130
- Alaska: $105,760
- New Jersey: $112,600
- New York: $116,360
- Rhode Island: $121,650
Impact of Education on Salary
The salary differentiation will also depend on the type of required training, or education, a construction manager has. Generally, a bachelor’s degree is the required education; however, construction management positions can require on-the-job-training, formal professional development, one-year certification, a two-year degree or a more advanced degree. Generally, positions that require a higher degree will offer a higher salary; however, well-experienced construction managers often command higher salaries as well. Highersalary.com indicates that degrees held by construction managers are generally in the areas of business, business management, construction science or civil engineering.
Contributor: Christy Flora
Sources:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes119021.htm#nat
http://www.highersalary.com/construction/construction-management/