• While overall employment in the State of Maryland increased 6.56% between 1997 and 2002, employment within the construction industry rose by 28.12%, creating 39,786 new construction jobs as well as creating 908 new construction establishments in 5 years.

• While the average worker in Maryland brought home $35,317 in pay in 2002, the state’s construction workers made on average $36,354, an increase of 2.85% more than the average worker in Maryland. 

• Construction employees in Maryland made $36,354 on average in 2002, compared to $35,352, the national average salary in 2002 for construction workers across the United States.

• Construction workers in Maryland saw a salary increase of 17.75% 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 Maryland grew from 99,761 in 1997 to 104,133 in 2002, an increase of 4.38%.  Construction establishments in Maryland however, increased by 6.25% from 14,525 in 1997 to 15,433 in 2002.

• Of the 4,372 new businesses established between 1997 and 2002 in Maryland, 908 or 20.77% of those establishments were in the construction industry. 

• According to Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, in 2006, only 11.4 percent of Maryland’s private construction workforce belonged to a construction trade union.  That means that approximately 89 out of 100 Maryland’s private construction workers do not belong to a labor union.

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

• The dollar threshold amount for contract coverage under state prevailing wage laws in Maryland is $500,000.