High paying construction jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA with no experience

The best paid construction occupations in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA run 9.9% above the national average (2024), so a Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA salary is worth about 0.91× 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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA

OccupationMedian, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA · Employed

1Carpenters$77,690
High school diploma or equivalent
$48,220 – $114,300700
2Electricians$76,610
High school diploma or equivalent
$48,290 – $126,560330
3Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$75,640
High school diploma or equivalent
$55,130 – $136,950130
4Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers$74,740
No formal educational credential
$46,850 – $83,630120
5Solar Photovoltaic Installers$69,550
High school diploma or equivalent
$50,690 – $102,23040
6Plasterers and Stucco Masons$68,210
No formal educational credential
$47,160 – $103,230100
7Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$68,130
High school diploma or equivalent
$47,770 – $124,660350
8Painters, Construction and Maintenance$62,400
No formal educational credential
$42,680 – $80,560230
9Roofers$61,640
No formal educational credential
$48,200 – $75,630140
10Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers$60,210
No formal educational credential
$45,980 – $101,880110
11Tile and Stone Setters$59,770
No formal educational credential
$45,490 – $110,30050
12Stonemasons$59,620
High school diploma or equivalent
$47,270 – $78,25040
13Helpers--Carpenters$59,090
No formal educational credential
$52,980 – $59,09050
14Glaziers$58,970
High school diploma or equivalent
$49,040 – $80,30070
15Construction Laborers$58,500
No formal educational credential
$45,160 – $81,750520

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

#	Occupation	MedianSanta Cruz-Watsonville, CA	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	CarpentersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$77,690	$48,220 – $114,300	700
2	ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$76,610	$48,290 – $126,560	330
3	Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$75,640	$55,130 – $136,950	130
4	Drywall and Ceiling Tile InstallersNo formal educational credential	$74,740	$46,850 – $83,630	120
5	Solar Photovoltaic InstallersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$69,550	$50,690 – $102,230	40
6	Plasterers and Stucco MasonsNo formal educational credential	$68,210	$47,160 – $103,230	100
7	Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$68,130	$47,770 – $124,660	350
8	Painters, Construction and MaintenanceNo formal educational credential	$62,400	$42,680 – $80,560	230
9	RoofersNo formal educational credential	$61,640	$48,200 – $75,630	140
10	Cement Masons and Concrete FinishersNo formal educational credential	$60,210	$45,980 – $101,880	110
11	Tile and Stone SettersNo formal educational credential	$59,770	$45,490 – $110,300	50
12	StonemasonsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$59,620	$47,270 – $78,250	40
13	Helpers--CarpentersNo formal educational credential	$59,090	$52,980 – $59,090	50
14	GlaziersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$58,970	$49,040 – $80,300	70
15	Construction LaborersNo formal educational credential	$58,500	$45,160 – $81,750	520

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA. 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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA to rank honestly.

High paying construction jobs in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA with no experience

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