Construction and Building Inspectors salary

SOC 47-4011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$74,690

per year, nationally

Middle half

$58,860–$94,710

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

146,720

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-0.8%

14,800 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$47,140$114,200

10th: $47,140
25th: $58,860
Median: $74,690
75th: $94,710
90th: $114,200

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: 5 years or more
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where construction and building inspectors earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Alaska	$102,410	102.4	270	0.89×
2	California	$101,290	110.7	13,420	0.78×
3	Connecticut	$98,670	103.6	1,430	0.90×
4	Washington	$96,140	107.0	3,090	0.92×
5	Minnesota	$88,670	98.6	1,390	0.50×
6	District of Columbia	$86,200	109.9	370	0.56×
7	Oregon	$84,510	103.4	1,780	0.96×
8	Massachusetts	$83,200	105.8	4,290	1.25×
9	New Jersey	$81,760	108.8	5,950	1.47×
10	Colorado	$79,950	103.1	3,700	1.36×
11	New York	$79,460	107.9	11,160	1.22×
12	Hawaii	$79,320	110.0	710	1.19×
13	North Dakota	$78,570	89.0	180	0.44×
14	Illinois	$78,340	100.0	2,560	0.44×
15	Rhode Island	$77,420	102.3	270	0.57×
16	Maryland	$76,640	105.0	2,780	1.07×
17	Montana	$75,700	94.6	290	0.60×
18	Virginia	$75,660	101.1	6,550	1.69×
19	Wisconsin	$75,610	94.1	1,270	0.46×
20	Nevada	$75,290	100.0	1,780	1.22×
21	Maine	$74,670	97.0	710	1.17×
22	Ohio	$74,490	92.8	3,490	0.67×
23	Utah	$74,130	98.9	1,240	0.76×
24	Arizona	$73,440	100.7	3,330	1.09×
25	Delaware	$72,700	99.8	570	1.25×
26	Iowa	$71,630	87.8	1,140	0.77×
27	Michigan	$71,040	96.2	3,090	0.74×
28	Louisiana	$68,260	88.2	1,440	0.79×
29	Florida	$68,170	103.4	13,860	1.48×
30	Vermont	$66,580	98.0	120	0.41×
31	North Carolina	$66,080	94.3	6,490	1.39×
32	Georgia	$65,980	96.3	4,510	0.98×
33	Pennsylvania	$65,870	97.6	5,320	0.93×
34	New Hampshire	$65,640	104.2	420	0.65×
35	New Mexico	$65,420	92.2	800	0.97×
36	Nebraska	$65,000	90.1	570	0.59×
37	South Dakota	$64,940	88.6	200	0.46×
38	Texas	$64,810	97.1	18,230	1.37×
39	West Virginia	$64,000	89.5	540	0.81×
40	Idaho	$63,570	95.5	1,000	1.23×
41	Kansas	$63,150	90.1	840	0.62×
42	Missouri	$62,970	90.8	1,640	0.59×
43	Indiana	$62,850	93.3	2,110	0.70×
44	Wyoming	$61,870	92.7	370	1.38×
45	Alabama	$61,300	88.8	1,420	0.71×
46	Kentucky	$60,200	90.2	1,380	0.73×
47	Tennessee	$59,870	91.9	2,500	0.81×
48	Oklahoma	$59,280	87.8	2,090	1.29×
49	South Carolina	$58,840	93.7	2,500	1.15×
50	Arkansas	$52,700	86.9	800	0.65×
51	Mississippi	$50,250	87.0	800	0.72×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where construction and building inspectors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for construction and building inspectors

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$129,750	110.4	860	0.80×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$125,130	115.6	2,380	1.06×
3	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$112,550	108.8	210	1.11×
4	Vallejo, CA	$108,180	108.5	190	1.42×
5	Anchorage, AK	$106,780	105.4	160	0.98×
6	Napa, CA	$106,410	112.6	50	0.65×
7	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$103,980	106.7	1,060	1.04×
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$102,830	111.1	1,640	0.83×
9	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$102,130	100.4	110	0.94×
10	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$102,060	107.8	140	0.71×
11	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$101,340	105.1	130	0.47×
12	Salinas, CA	$100,830	109.0	90	0.51×
13	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$100,280	113.6	3,870	0.65×
14	Yuba City, CA	$100,240	104.2	40	0.77×
15	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$99,620	102.7	750	1.32×
16	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$98,680	109.9	60	0.67×
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$98,580	111.9	1,330	0.92×
18	New Haven, CT	$98,430	104.6	180	0.68×
19	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$98,220	103.7	120	0.98×
20	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$97,610	102.4	60	1.28×
21	Rochester, MN	$96,840	90.8	50	0.46×
22	Bozeman, MT	$96,530	102.5	40	0.54×
23	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$96,400	103.9	50	1.12×
24	Walla Walla, WA	$96,100	98.5	40	1.61×
25	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$95,640	105.6	110	1.20×
26	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$95,540	106.9	220	0.57×
27	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$94,420	104.8	940	0.51×
28	Bellingham, WA	$93,340	103.3	110	1.24×
29	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$93,340	105.4	1,200	1.05×
30	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$92,710	99.8	90	0.61×
31	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$90,800	112.6	10,340	1.15×
32	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$89,950	106.4	1,160	0.71×
33	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$89,030	100.2	110	1.80×
34	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$87,040	100.1	130	1.08×
35	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$86,140	100.3	230	0.97×
36	Bend, OR	$85,000	103.6	120	1.17×
37	Urban Honolulu, HI	$84,910	111.0	540	1.29×
38	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$84,620	108.3	2,950	1.16×
39	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$84,240	110.5	220	0.72×
40	Lafayette, LA	$83,780	87.2	100	0.60×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where construction and building inspectors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Highway Maintenance Workers$50,260
Hazardous Materials Removal Workers$49,450
Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners$49,880
Miscellaneous Construction and Related Workers$49,910
Fence Erectors$47,980
Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers$109,910
Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators$70,070

Construction and Building Inspectors salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where construction and building inspectors earn the most

Best paying metro areas for construction and building inspectors

Similar occupations

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