Construction Trades degree: salary, jobs & colleges

1 colleges offer a bachelor's in construction trades. At ages 25-34, people whose degree is in construction services earn $83,958, $21,909 more than all bachelor's holders. The most common job is construction managers (39%).

Graduates, 4 years out
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College Scorecard field of study (graduates who received federal aid)

All workers ages 25-34 with this degree
$83,958

Middle half $60,915–$109,982. 1,646 survey respondents.

Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata; field "Construction Services"; EducationGuide calculation

Compared with
  • All bachelor's, 25-34$62,049
  • High school, 25-34$35,638
  • This degree vs high school+$48,320/yr

Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata, workers not in school

Median federal debt at graduation
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Median across colleges reporting.

College Scorecard field of study

Jobs construction trades graduates hold

What employed 25-34-year-olds whose bachelor's is in construction services actually do, with U.S. wages and the outlook for each job. The first column comes from the Census survey; wages and growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

JobShare of graduatesU.S. median wageJobs growth 2025-35Typical entryInterests
Construction Managers39%$114,990+9.1%Bachelor's degreeECR
Civil Engineers8%$100,840+6.4%Bachelor's degreeRIC
Cost Estimators5%$78,740-3.1%Bachelor's degreeCE
Other Managers4%————
Project Management Specialists4%$102,320+6.7%Bachelor's degreeEC
Construction Laborers3%$47,120+7.3%No formal educational credentialRC
General And Operations Managers2%$105,770+5.0%Bachelor's degreeEC
Industrial Engineers, Including Health And Safety1%$102,670+12.0%——

Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata (ages 25-34, bachelor's as highest degree, employed); BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35; O*NET 31.0 interest codes (R realistic, I investigative, A artistic, S social, E enterprising, C conventional).

Who tends to enjoy this work

The jobs these graduates hold score highest on Enterprising, Conventional, Realistic interests (O*NET), weighted by how many graduates hold each job. A rough guide to fit, not a test.

Enterprising (leading)5.1
Conventional (organizing)4.9
Realistic (hands-on)4.6
Investigative (analytical)3.4
Social (helping)2.2
Artistic (creative)1.7

O*NET 31.0 interest scores (1-7) for each job, weighted by Census share of graduates; EducationGuide calculation.

Construction Trades earnings by state

Two views of pay: recent graduates of the state's colleges four years out (College Scorecard), and everyone ages 25-34 living in the state with this field of degree (Census). States show a figure only with at least 3 colleges or 100 survey respondents.

StateGraduates, 4 yrs (colleges)Ages 25-34 (respondents)
California—$83,789 (124)
Texas—$78,710 (133)

College Scorecard field of study (median of each college's graduates); Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata; EducationGuide calculations.

Construction Trades degree questions

Is a Construction Trades degree worth it?

At ages 25-34, people with a bachelor's in construction services earn a median $83,958: $21,909 more than all bachelor's degree holders ($62,049) and $48,320 more than high school graduates ($35,638). EducationGuide calculation from Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata, workers not in school.

What jobs do Construction Trades graduates get?

Among employed 25-34-year-olds whose bachelor's is in construction services, the most common jobs are construction managers (39%), civil engineers (8%), cost estimators (5%). Construction Managers earn a U.S. median $114,990.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey microdata; Bureau of Labor Statistics; O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0). Method
Data: JSON · Markdown · all degrees
Cite this: “Construction Trades degree: salary, jobs and colleges,” EducationGuide.com, https://educationguide.com/degrees/construction-trades.