High paying construction jobs in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA

Every construction occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA. Read the percentile range, not just the median: the gap between the 10th and 90th inside a single construction job is usually wider than the gap between two different ones, so where you land in a field matters more than which field you pick.

Cost of living: prices in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA run 12.9% below the national average (2024), so a Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA salary is worth about 1.15× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.

Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find construction jobs in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA

OccupationMedian, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA · Employed

1Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$97,770
High school diploma or equivalent
$55,130 – $97,770420
2First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers$77,760
High school diploma or equivalent
$56,980 – $106,340360
3Construction and Building Inspectors$71,330
High school diploma or equivalent
$45,020 – $83,46050
4Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners$63,610
High school diploma or equivalent
$47,520 – $65,58060
5Electricians$63,420
High school diploma or equivalent
$40,160 – $83,150360
6Sheet Metal Workers$63,240
High school diploma or equivalent
$44,820 – $79,57080
7Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$62,200
High school diploma or equivalent
$45,960 – $92,590220
8Highway Maintenance Workers$59,380
High school diploma or equivalent
$46,700 – $62,570140
9Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers$58,860
No formal educational credential
$48,070 – $73,55060
10Carpenters$55,840
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,870 – $78,980260
11Painters, Construction and Maintenance$55,000
No formal educational credential
$37,850 – $71,930110
12Construction Laborers$49,950
No formal educational credential
$38,180 – $72,500710

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianWaterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$97,770	$55,130 – $97,770	420
2	First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$77,760	$56,980 – $106,340	360
3	Construction and Building InspectorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$71,330	$45,020 – $83,460	50
4	Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe CleanersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$63,610	$47,520 – $65,580	60
5	ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$63,420	$40,160 – $83,150	360
6	Sheet Metal WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$63,240	$44,820 – $79,570	80
7	Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$62,200	$45,960 – $92,590	220
8	Highway Maintenance WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$59,380	$46,700 – $62,570	140
9	Cement Masons and Concrete FinishersNo formal educational credential	$58,860	$48,070 – $73,550	60
10	CarpentersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$55,840	$38,870 – $78,980	260
11	Painters, Construction and MaintenanceNo formal educational credential	$55,000	$37,850 – $71,930	110
12	Construction LaborersNo formal educational credential	$49,950	$38,180 – $72,500	710

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

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Without a degree

The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA to rank honestly.

High paying construction jobs in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA

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