The job market in the construction industry in 2025 is an interesting dichotomy. We have a shortage—with Baby Boomers retiring and not enough young, new workers entering the market—and we also have increasing job satisfaction and salaries, pointing to positive days ahead. For today’s blog, let’s look at the numbers from two recent job trends reports.
But first, let’s consider the market overall. The U.S. construction industry is seeing total spending rising to $2.2 trillion this year, (Yes, construction is growing and growing in a way that provides for a good living for the future of work) which is a 2% increase from last year. At the same time, the job market is expanding some, adding 96,000 jobs this year, up from 1.2% last year. It is a far cry from the nearly half a million jobs that are needed, but it is growth nonetheless.
Where Are the Opportunities?
Astrak recently analyzed which U.S. cities offer the best opportunities for construction workers. The study considered many factors including:
- The share of local employment in construction
- Year-over-year job growth
- New housing units authorized per 1,000 existing homes
- Median construction salaries
With all of this in mind, the top five cities for opportunities for construction are: Phoenix, Raleigh, Austin, Sacramento, and Indianapolis.
Let’s consider the top city, Phoenix, as an example. The study suggests 8.4% of the city’s workforce is construction, and the city also leads the nation in year-over-year construction job growth. This is due to large-scale projects and new housing units. The median construction wage here is $55,438 and there is both opportunity and stability for workers.
Of course, this is only one example. Here at Constructech, we know opportunities abound all across the country for construction workers.
Inside the Minds of Civil Engineers
The ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) recently released its 2025 ASCE Civil Engineering Salary Report, with feedback from 2,061 members. The results found the average base salary for civil engineers is $148,000, which is a 6.4% increase above last year’s average base salary of $139,000. Also, a Professional Engineers License could increase a salary by $40,000. An median entry level salary is $77,100.
The good news here is between 2022 and 2025, civil engineers have seen their salary increase between 6% and 7% annually—which is in comparison to the 3% to 5% annual salary increases for the overall U.S. workforce.
Will this be enough to persuade young workers to join the industry? The need for these workers is high, with anticipated growth of 5% between now and 2034. At the same time, a report from the Brookings Institution estimates 1.7 million infrastructure workers will leave their jobs each year, in large part due to people choosing to retire.
The ASCE survey also found 6.9% of people changed jobs in the last year. Higher pay was the top reason people changed jobs, followed by career advancement opportunities, and new job responsibilities.
But here’s another interesting tale of the tape, I see AI agents beginning to play a greater role in reducing what we believe are the total number of jobs required in construction. As AI agents refine human efficiency construction tasks will evolve—reshaping the human workload. As a result, we are witnessing the future of work being redefined right before our eyes.
The good news is it all seems to be working. Retention is good, with 86.2% of survey respondents saying they are either satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs. Two-thirds of civil engineers surveyed say they are satisfied with their compensation, a 2.2% increase from last year’s salary survey.
Now, it is just a matter of getting new people interested in the profession and maybe someday we will reach those half a million new workers. Or will we have the tools and technology to assist the industry to complete projects more efficiently.
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