Data
What Backyard Trades Earn, State by State
5 min · Updated 2026-09-27
Median hourly wages of fence erectors, carpenters, cement masons and construction laborers in all 50 states and DC, from BLS data for May 2025.
What the table shows
- A fence erector’s median wage is below a construction laborer’s in 25 of the 45 states where BLS estimates both, including Texas, California and New York. The specialist trade is the lower-paid one in most of them.
- The same trade’s pay differs by up to 2.2 times between states: the median wage of cement masons is $21.14 an hour in Mississippi and $46.10 in Hawaii.
- Hawaii has the highest median for carpenters, cement masons and construction laborers; Alaska for fence erectors.
| Trade | Lowest | Highest |
|---|---|---|
| Fence erectors | $17.78 GA | $31.06 AK |
| Carpenters | $22.55 OK | $41.00 HI |
| Cement masons | $21.14 MS | $46.10 HI |
| Laborers | $17.74 AL | $37.07 HI |
Why a national price would mislead
A price per foot averaged across the country mixes these labor markets into one number. The fence, deck, patio and driveway cost pages compare local quotes instead, and show these trades’ wages for the U.S., California and Texas. The deck page, the one that gives a published national estimate, sets Austin’s and Los Angeles’s beside it for this reason.
Every state
| State | Fence erectors | Carpenters | Cement masons | Laborers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S.United States | $23.07 | $29.12 | $27.41 | $22.66 |
| ALAlabama | $19.15 | $23.18 | $21.50 | $17.74 |
| AKAlaska | $31.06 | $35.51 | $44.69 | $27.91 |
| AZArizona | $22.24 | $28.17 | $28.32 | $22.40 |
| ARArkansas | $22.19 | $22.96 | $22.23 | $18.09 |
| CACalifornia | $26.95 | $36.50 | $30.15 | $28.98 |
| COColorado | $23.26 | $30.21 | $29.18 | $23.03 |
| CTConnecticut | $25.57 | $30.80 | $28.19 | $28.03 |
| DEDelaware | $24.34 | $28.46 | $27.42 | $21.90 |
| DCDistrict of Columbia | no estimate | $29.67 | $29.65 | $24.05 |
| FLFlorida | $21.90 | $23.98 | $23.40 | $21.17 |
| GAGeorgia | $17.78 | $23.72 | $22.23 | $18.74 |
| HIHawaii | no estimate | $41.00 | $46.10 | $37.07 |
| IDIdaho | no estimate | $25.00 | $27.12 | $22.57 |
| ILIllinois | $24.38 | $37.98 | $37.58 | $29.18 |
| INIndiana | $22.84 | $30.23 | $29.46 | $24.07 |
| IAIowa | $25.25 | $27.75 | $27.99 | $23.31 |
| KSKansas | $22.66 | $27.39 | $25.06 | $21.56 |
| KYKentucky | no estimate | $25.33 | $24.14 | $21.98 |
| LALouisiana | $24.89 | $24.00 | $23.64 | $18.38 |
| MEMaine | $21.78 | $29.88 | $26.77 | $22.32 |
| MDMaryland | no estimate | $30.27 | $24.98 | $22.58 |
| MAMassachusetts | $23.28 | $36.16 | $30.69 | $30.48 |
| MIMichigan | $22.02 | $29.66 | $28.78 | $23.84 |
| MNMinnesota | $27.53 | $31.22 | $32.13 | $28.97 |
| MSMississippi | $18.61 | $23.39 | $21.14 | $18.13 |
| MOMissouri | $20.81 | $29.25 | $29.51 | $27.28 |
| MTMontana | $26.79 | $28.28 | $29.63 | $23.96 |
| NENebraska | $24.10 | $24.19 | $23.80 | $22.72 |
| NVNevada | $22.57 | $29.99 | $29.44 | $23.55 |
| NHNew Hampshire | $24.45 | $29.42 | $26.06 | $24.03 |
| NJNew Jersey | $27.26 | $30.77 | $29.52 | $30.80 |
| NMNew Mexico | $21.37 | $28.71 | $23.67 | $18.46 |
| NYNew York | $23.08 | $34.77 | $30.79 | $26.89 |
| NCNorth Carolina | $18.80 | $23.61 | $22.49 | $21.50 |
| NDNorth Dakota | $23.71 | $27.83 | $27.74 | $23.59 |
| OHOhio | $23.02 | $29.24 | $30.28 | $26.96 |
| OKOklahoma | $18.21 | $22.55 | $22.00 | $18.92 |
| OROregon | $21.43 | $30.23 | $32.95 | $24.45 |
| PAPennsylvania | $28.17 | $28.54 | $29.62 | $23.75 |
| RIRhode Island | $22.33 | $29.25 | $30.26 | $27.52 |
| SCSouth Carolina | $18.25 | $24.36 | $23.73 | $20.65 |
| SDSouth Dakota | $23.26 | $23.14 | $22.67 | $21.98 |
| TNTennessee | $21.79 | $24.44 | $23.04 | $21.64 |
| TXTexas | $17.92 | $23.51 | $22.84 | $19.53 |
| UTUtah | $23.42 | $25.17 | $27.13 | $22.38 |
| VTVermont | no estimate | $30.00 | $29.40 | $23.36 |
| VAVirginia | $19.26 | $26.77 | $24.49 | $20.94 |
| WAWashington | $24.93 | $35.67 | $37.27 | $27.75 |
| WVWest Virginia | $21.65 | $23.42 | $24.98 | $20.51 |
| WIWisconsin | $24.72 | $29.65 | $30.89 | $26.97 |
| WYWyoming | $19.11 | $27.33 | $28.10 | $22.13 |
What the figures are
Each figure is a median hourly wage from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025: half the employees in that trade and state earned more, half less. The survey counts employees, not the self-employed, and leaves out benefits and overtime. A dash means BLS published no estimate; for fence erectors that is District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland and Vermont.
The figures are copied from the state file without rounding, by a script in the site’s code that can be rerun on next year’s file, and the statements above are computed from the same table. How YardPermit estimates explains why a wage is not a price.