Trend of the week – Women in construction

This iconic World War II lithograph, created by J. Howard Miller to inspire workers at Westinghouse, became identified with the legendary “Rosie the Riveter” in the 1980s. Today, millions of women are following Rosie”™s footsteps into the field of construction.

A new study by Construction Coverage looking at the best-paying U.S. states for women in the construction industry finds Connecticut and New York in the top 15.

The Nutmeg State was sixth with a median annual wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted) of $51,599 and an actual median annual wage of $53,373. (The actual median annual wage for women in all occupations in the state is $55,737.) Women make up 8.8% of the construction industry there.

For the Empire State, which ranked 13th, the figures are as follows:

Median annual wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted) — $49,118.

Median annual wage for women in the construction industry (actual) — $54,134.

Median annual wage for women in all occupations (actual): –$52,786.

Female share of total construction industry employment — 9.2%

Both sets of statistics are better than the United States as a whole:

Median annual wage for women in the construction industry (adjusted) ”“ N/A.

Median annual wage for women in the construction industry (actual): $46,773.

Median annual wage for women in all occupations (actual) — $44,344.

Female share of total construction industry employment — 10.2%.

Women still represent a significant minority of the field”™s workforce, but the ranks of women construction workers have grown in recent decades. In the 1960s, only around 6% of construction workers were women. This figure had doubled by the early 1990s and, after remaining flat for much of the 1990s and 2000s, has been trending upward again since the Great Recession. Today, more than 14% of construction workers are women. However, women”™s presence in the field varies by specific occupation. Nearly one in 10 painters and paperhangers is a woman, while women represent 7.4% of solar and photovoltaic installers ”“ one of the fastest-growing occupations in the U.S. But in some other construction roles like boilermakers and cement and brick masons, women are still less than 1% of the workforce.

One reason why women have become a larger part of the construction workforce overall, though, is compensation. The median wage for women construction workers exceeds the median wage for all women in 43 states. And some locations are especially favorable for women construction workers, including 11 states where the cost-of-living-adjusted median wage tops $50,000 for women in the field.

To find the best-paying states for women in construction, researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. To see how all the states stacked up, click here.