Pay trends · sourced from BLS, Census and GSA
The trend lines behind the road job
Where the money is going, what the trades get paid, and how many hands the next ten years need. Every number comes straight from a federal source and is dated, so you can check our work.
1 · The money
Data center construction went from $1.8B to a $96B pace
The Census Bureau has tracked data center construction as its own line since 2014. Spending was $1.8 billion that year and $49.7 billion in 2025. In Sep 2026 it was running at $96.5 billion a year. That money is what pays for the per diem.
= $2.5 billion a year of data center construction
Value of private construction put in place, data center. Annual totals for 2014 to 2025. Sep 2026 is the seasonally adjusted annual rate, the latest month published. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Construction Spending (C30).
2 · Pay by trade
Median pay for the trades, 2016 vs. 2025
The national median electrician made $63,190 in May 2025, up 20% since 2016. Prices rose 34% over the same stretch, so the typical electrician's pay did not keep up with inflation. HVAC and the trades overall did better. The road is where electricians close that gap, and you can see it in section 5.
See every year, 2016 to 2025
| Median yearly pay | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricians | $52,720 | $54,110 | $55,190 | $56,180 | $56,900 | $60,040 | $60,240 | $61,590 | $62,350 | $63,190 |
| Plumbers and pipefitters | $51,450 | $52,590 | $53,910 | $55,160 | $56,330 | $59,880 | $60,090 | $61,550 | $62,970 | $63,800 |
| HVAC mechanics | $45,910 | $47,080 | $47,610 | $48,730 | $50,590 | $48,630 | $51,390 | $57,300 | $59,810 | $61,010 |
| All construction trades | $43,610 | $44,730 | $46,010 | $47,430 | $48,610 | $48,210 | $50,570 | $55,680 | $58,360 | $59,540 |
Median yearly pay for all workers in each job nationwide, May of each year. Hourly medians for 2025: electricians $30.38, plumbers and pipefitters $30.67, HVAC mechanics $29.33. BLS changed how it builds these estimates in 2021, so small year-to-year moves are noise. Inflation is CPI-U, May 2016 to May 2025. Sources: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, BLS Consumer Price Index.
3 · Hourly vs. inflation
Construction pay has stayed ahead of prices
Average hourly pay for construction workers rose from $28.21 in September 2016 to $41.65 in September 2026. If it had only kept pace with prices it would be $39.37. Pay stayed ahead of inflation every year, even through the 2022 price spike, and finished $2.28 an hour ahead.
Average hourly pay, construction 2016 pay grown by inflation only
Jobs at electrical contractors
Employees of electrical contractors, December of each year, September for 2026 (preliminary). Up from 0.88 million to 1.17 million.
Average hourly earnings of all employees in construction (series CES2000000003), September of each year. Electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors (CES2023821001). The newest two months are preliminary and can be revised. Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics.
4 · Per diem
The federal per diem baseline rose 20% in eight years
Most of the country uses the GSA standard rate. It went from $151 a day in fiscal 2020 to $181 a day for fiscal 2027. Contractors don't have to match it, but it's the yardstick to measure an offer against. Many road jobs pay less, as our board shows below.
Lodging Meals and incidentals
GSA standard CONUS rate for areas without their own rate. Fiscal years start Oct 1. Lodging was frozen for FY2021 and FY2022. Higher rates apply in about 300 counties, including some near our builds. Source: U.S. General Services Administration per diem rates and GSA annual rate releases.
5 · Our own data, updated weekly
Road jobs vs. the national median
The national numbers above count every electrician, including shop and service work close to home. Road jobs at data center builds pay a different game. This is what the 12 builds on our board are posting this week.
Week 1 of our board history, which starts the week of Nov 9, 2026. Each week we log the posted pay and per diem at every build on the board, so this section becomes a week-by-week trend line. Middle means the median of each build's posted midpoint.
6 · Jobs outlook
The next ten years need more hands
BLS projects all three trades will grow much faster than the average job from 2025 to 2035. Counting retirements and people who leave, there are about 587,000 openings a year across construction and extraction trades.
= 5,000 new jobs added from 2025 to 2035
Employment projections 2025 to 2035. New jobs is growth in total jobs. Openings a year adds the jobs that open when people retire or switch careers. Sources: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for electricians, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters and HVAC mechanics.
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We update this page when the government publishes new numbers and call out what changed in the newsletter.
Sources and methods
Why we use these sources
- Pay by trade - BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. A survey of about 1.1 million workplaces. It is the government's official pay number for each job and the only one that goes back years on the same footing. We use it instead of job-site salary averages, which come from self-reported pay and job ads.
- Hourly pay and jobs - BLS Current Employment Statistics. A monthly payroll survey, so it moves first. Newest months are marked preliminary and get revised.
- Construction spending - Census Bureau, Value of Construction Put in Place. The only federal series with data centers broken out as their own line, since 2014.
- Per diem - U.S. General Services Administration. The federal rate that sets the baseline for per diem across the country.
- Jobs outlook - BLS Employment Projections. Ten-year projections published in the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- Road pay - our weekly board. Posted pay and per diem at each build we list, logged every week. We link every posting and never publish names.
Pulled Nov 8, 2026. When an agency revises a number, we update it here. Spot something off? Tell us.