High paying construction jobs in Rapid City, SD with no experience

The best paid construction occupations in Rapid City, SD that require neither a degree nor prior experience in a related job. This is the narrowest cut on the site, so it is also the shortest list: where a field has only two or three such occupations, there is no page at all rather than a page pretending otherwise.

Cost of living: prices in Rapid City, SD run 10.8% below the national average (2024), so a Rapid City, SD salary is worth about 1.12× 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 Rapid City, SD

OccupationMedian, Rapid City, SD · Employed

1Electricians$61,160
High school diploma or equivalent
$40,540 – $78,540460
2Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$60,660
High school diploma or equivalent
$48,630 – $75,240410
3Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$55,850
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,530 – $74,450360
4Pipelayers$50,650
No formal educational credential
$38,140 – $59,09070
5Highway Maintenance Workers$49,490
High school diploma or equivalent
$41,720 – $61,820190
6Structural Iron and Steel Workers$49,100
High school diploma or equivalent
$45,380 – $71,510170
7Carpenters$48,640
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,750 – $63,400870
8Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers$48,300
No formal educational credential
$36,530 – $63,290470
9Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers$47,980
No formal educational credential
$38,480 – $58,30060
10Painters, Construction and Maintenance$46,900
No formal educational credential
$34,840 – $64,660110
11Glaziers$46,820
High school diploma or equivalent
$42,920 – $60,35090
12Roofers$46,510
No formal educational credential
$34,410 – $60,230120
13Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall$45,760
No formal educational credential
$36,510 – $59,03040
14Construction Laborers$45,630
No formal educational credential
$35,830 – $51,120410
15Sheet Metal Workers$44,280
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,550 – $64,06070
16Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$36,110
High school diploma or equivalent
$32,000 – $37,50060
17Helpers--Electricians$35,000
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,110 – $42,38050
18Helpers--Carpenters$30,900
No formal educational credential
$28,490 – $45,55040

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

#	Occupation	MedianRapid City, SD	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$61,160	$40,540 – $78,540	460
2	Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$60,660	$48,630 – $75,240	410
3	Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$55,850	$39,530 – $74,450	360
4	PipelayersNo formal educational credential	$50,650	$38,140 – $59,090	70
5	Highway Maintenance WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$49,490	$41,720 – $61,820	190
6	Structural Iron and Steel WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$49,100	$45,380 – $71,510	170
7	CarpentersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,640	$37,750 – $63,400	870
8	Cement Masons and Concrete FinishersNo formal educational credential	$48,300	$36,530 – $63,290	470
9	Drywall and Ceiling Tile InstallersNo formal educational credential	$47,980	$38,480 – $58,300	60
10	Painters, Construction and MaintenanceNo formal educational credential	$46,900	$34,840 – $64,660	110
11	GlaziersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,820	$42,920 – $60,350	90
12	RoofersNo formal educational credential	$46,510	$34,410 – $60,230	120
13	Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and WallNo formal educational credential	$45,760	$36,510 – $59,030	40
14	Construction LaborersNo formal educational credential	$45,630	$35,830 – $51,120	410
15	Sheet Metal WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,280	$37,550 – $64,060	70
16	Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$36,110	$32,000 – $37,500	60
17	Helpers--ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$35,000	$31,110 – $42,380	50
18	Helpers--CarpentersNo formal educational credential	$30,900	$28,490 – $45,550	40

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Rapid City, SD. 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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The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Rapid City, SD to rank honestly.

High paying construction jobs in Rapid City, SD with no experience

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