• While overall employment in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts increased 6.29% between 1997 and 2002, employment within the construction industry rose by 53.60%, creating 57,783 new construction jobs and 2,148 new construction establishments in 5 years.

• While the average worker in Massachusetts brought home $32,772 in pay in 1997, the state’s construction workers made on average $35,884, an increase of 8.67% more than the average worker in Massachusetts. 

• Construction employees in Massachusetts made $40,897 on average in 2002, compared to $35,352, the national average salary in 2002 for construction workers across the United States.

• Construction workers in Massachusetts saw a salary increase of 13.97% 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 Massachusetts grew from 135,309 in 1997 to 142,596 in 2002, an increase of 5.39%.  Construction establishments in Massachusetts however, increased by 14.36% from 14,959 in 1997 to 17,107 in 2002.

• Of the 7,287 new businesses established between 1997 and 2002 in Massachusetts, 2,148 or 29.48% of those establishments were in the construction industry.

• According to Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, in 2006, only 20.0 percent of Massachusetts private construction workforce belonged to a construction trade union.  That means that approximately 80 out of 100 Massachusetts private construction workers do not belong to a labor union.

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

• Massachusetts is a prevailing wage state. There is no dollar threshold amount for contract coverage under state prevailing wage law in Massachusetts.