• While overall employment in the State of Arizona increased 14.57% between 1997 and 2002, employment within the construction industry rose by 32.61%, creating 43,000 new construction jobs as well as creating 1,934 new construction establishments in 5 years.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 131,871 individuals employed in the construction industry in Arizona in 1997 and 174,871 in 2002, an increase of 32.61% in 5 years. 

• While the average worker in Arizona brought home $30,880 in pay in 2002, the state’s construction workers made on average $32,218, an increase of 4.15% more than the average worker in Arizona. 

• In the five years between 1997 and 2002, the average salary for employees in Arizona increased by 23.14%, while the average salary for construction workers in Arizona increased by 17.33%. 

• Construction workers in Arizona saw a salary increase of 17.33% from 1997-2002, compared to the average salary increase construction workers across the United States, which increased by 14.97%. 

• The number of businesses in Arizona grew from 86,302 in 1997 to 94,642 in 2002, an increase of 9.66%.  Construction establishments in Arizona however, increased by 17.49% from 11,058 in 1997 to 12,992 in 2002.

• Of the 8,340 new businesses established between 1997 and 2002 in Arizona, 1,934 or 23.19% of those establishments were in the construction industry.

• According to Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, in 2006, only 4.6 percent of Arizona’s private construction workforce belonged to a construction trade union.  That means that approximately 95 out of 100 Arizona’s private construction workers do not belong to a labor union.

Data are from the U.S. Bureau of the Census except where noted.

• Arizona does not have a State Prevailing Wage law.