• While overall employment in the State of Vermont increased 9.93% between 1997 and 2002, employment within the construction industry rose by 21.25%, creating 2,784 new construction jobs as well as 241 new construction establishments in 5 years.

• While the average worker in Vermont brought home $28,837 in pay in 2002, the state’s construction workers made on average $31,177, an increase of 7.51% more than the average worker in Vermont. 

• In the five years between 1997 and 2002, the average salary for employees in Vermont increased by 21.92%, while the average salary for construction workers in Vermont increased by 23.28%. 

• Construction workers in Vermont saw a salary increase of 23.28% 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 Vermont grew from 18,181 in 1997 to 18,491 in 2002, an increase of 1.71%.  Construction establishments in Vermont however, increased by 9.74% from 2,474 in 1997 to 2,715 in 2002.

• Of the 310 new businesses established between 1997 and 2002 in Vermont, 241 or 77.74% of those establishments were in the construction industry.

• According to Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, in 2006, only 3.7 percent of Vermont’s private construction workforce belonged to a construction trade union.  That means that approximately 96 out of 100 Vermont’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 Vermont is $100,000.