Prevailing wage rates vs market wages: the 2026 CB&C Prevailing Wage Gap Index for 20 US metros

How the index is built

Download the calculations (CSV)

How the CB&C Prevailing Wage Gap Index is built

The index puts the federal Davis-Bacon base hourly rate for building construction next to what the local market pays the same trade, as measured by BLS. A score of 100 means parity; 150 means the federal rate is 50% above the market median.

CB&C Prevailing Wage Gap Index: Index = average over four core trades (electricians, plumbers, carpenters, common laborers) of 100 x Davis-Bacon Building base hourly rate / OEWS May 2025 median hourly wage for the matching SOC code in the metro. Parity = 100. Two sensitivity versions use the OEWS mean instead of the median, and base plus fringe instead of base only.

Davis-Bacon prevailing wage: The minimum hourly wage and fringe benefit that contractors on covered federal and federally assisted construction must pay laborers and mechanics, set by the U.S. Department of Labor for each classification and county (DOL WHD). The rates are published as general wage determinations (WDs) on SAM.gov.

Union rate vs survey (SU) rate: Each WD line carries an identifier. A union identifier (for example ELEC0134-001) means a collectively bargained rate prevailed in the WHD survey and is updated as the agreement changes. An SU identifier means a single non-union rate prevailed or the rate is a weighted average of all survey data; SU rates typically stay in effect until a new survey. SA marks a rate adopted from a state survey. These definitions are printed at the end of every WD.

Metros and counties: 20 large metros, each represented by its principal county: New York County, Los Angeles, Cook, Dallas, Harris, the District of Columbia, Philadelphia, Miami-Dade, Fulton, Suffolk, Maricopa, San Francisco, King, Wayne, Hennepin, Denver, Mecklenburg, Hillsborough, Orange and Duval. For each, we pulled the active Davis-Bacon determination that lists Building construction for that county from the SAM.gov public API on 2026-10-08 and read its current modification. When several Building WDs covered a county, we used the one covering the fewest counties.

Trade lines: one journeyworker classification per trade, chosen by a written rule (scripts/selections.json): the general or inside electrician, the plumber (not HVAC-only or service variants), the general building carpenter, the common or general laborer (or the union group that names general building laborers), the structural ironworker, and the backhoe/excavator/trackhoe operator where that label exists. A script checks that every selected rate appears in the WD text. Market wages come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 metropolitan file for SOC 47-2111, 47-2152, 47-2031, 47-2061, 47-2221 and 47-2073.

Prevailing wage rates vs market wages: the 20-metro ranking

Base Davis-Bacon rates sit above the OEWS median wage in 15 of 20 metros and below it in 5. The spread from top to bottom is 118.8 index points.

Philadelphia ranks first at 189.0: its four core Building rates average 89.0% above the metro median wage, led by electricians at $75.05 an hour against an OEWS median of $35.86 (PA20260003 mod 2). San Francisco (169.4), New York (168.3), Seattle (167.2), Los Angeles (164.9) and Boston (160.7) follow. In all of these, every core rate on the WD is a union or state-adopted rate.

Dallas ranks last at 70.2, 29.8% below parity. All four core Dallas rates carry the identifier SUTX2014-017, a survey completed on 2014-07-21; the common laborer rate is $11.57 against a Dallas-Fort Worth OEWS median of $21.14 (TX20260241 mod 1). Orlando (85.5), Tampa (87.0), Miami (87.6) and Charlotte (90.0) complete the five metros below 100.

Houston (117.4) shows how mixed determinations behave. Its electricians, plumbers and carpenters carry union rates between 135.3 and 139.3 on the index scale, while its common laborer rate of $11.76 comes from a 2014 survey and scores 59.2 (TX20260253 mod 1). For the full market-pay ranking of 56 metros, see construction pay by metro.

Sensitivity: mean wages, fringe benefits and all six trades

The ranking holds when the market benchmark changes. Philadelphia stays first and Dallas last whether the index uses the OEWS median, the OEWS mean, or base plus fringe.

Mean instead of median: OEWS means sit above medians for most trades, so index values fall, from 189.0 to 173.6 in Philadelphia and from 70.2 to 69.1 in Dallas. The same nine metros fill the top nine places and the same five metros the bottom five in both versions.

Base plus fringe: adding the fringe lifts 19 of 20 metros above 100. Union metros rise most because bargained fringes are large: New York moves from 168.3 to 292.1. Dallas moves only from 70.2 to 81.4 because its SU laborer rate lists no fringe at all. This version is not like for like, since OEWS excludes benefits.

All six trades: adding structural ironworkers and backhoe operators where listed changes values but not the extremes. Philadelphia scores 173.9 and Dallas 74.8 on the extended index; Orlando falls to 82.5 because its ironworker and operator rates also come from 2016 survey data.

Which trades have the largest gaps

Plumbers (143.2) and electricians (139.5) show the largest average premiums of federal rates over market wages. Common laborers (103.0) and operating engineers (87.7) are closest to, or below, the market.

The largest single premium in the sample is San Francisco plumbers: $85.50 base against an OEWS median of $37.44, an index of 228.4 (CA20260018 mod 8). The largest shortfall is Dallas backhoe operators: $13.06 against $24.70, an index of 52.9.

Laborers split most sharply by rate type. The DBA laborer base is below the OEWS median in 11 of 20 metros. Where the laborer rate is union or state-adopted, it averages 151.4; where it is an SU survey rate, it averages 63.4. SU rates set 11 of the 20 laborer lines.

Electricians: the Building base rate ranges from $19.58 in Orange County (SU, 2016 survey) to $91.25 in San Francisco County. The median across the 20 counties is $49.06 base and $73.09 with fringe. The national OEWS median wage for electricians in May 2025 was $30.38 (BLS).

Union-rate metros vs survey-rate metros

The gap tracks rate type closely. Union or state-adopted lines average 142.7 on the index; SU survey lines average 71.5, and 33 of 34 SU lines sit below the local market median.

Across 111 trade comparisons, 77 lines carry union or state-adopted rates and 34 carry SU survey rates. Only 2 union lines fall below the OEWS median: Miami ironworkers (99.5) and Jacksonville carpenters (97.2). The one SU line above the median is Miami electricians (105.0).

Grouped by metro, the nine metros whose four core rates are all union or state-adopted average 159.2; the four with one SU core rate average 117.3; the seven with two or more SU core rates average 90.9. Union density is not measured here; for membership rates see construction union membership.

Survey age: the SU lines in this sample were completed a median 10.1 years ago (range 3.2 to 17.4 years). The oldest is the District of Columbia common laborer rate, SUDC2009-003 from 2009-05-19, at $13.04 (DC20260002 mod 3).

The 2023 rule lets WHD adjust out-of-date non-collectively bargained rates using the BLS Employment Cost Index, no sooner than 3 years after publication and no more often than every 3 years (DOL WHD). As an illustration only, indexing each SU rate by the construction-industry ECI from its survey quarter to 2026 Q2 lifts the average SU line from 71.5 to 96.6. Dallas electricians would move from $21.51 to $31.56. None of the SU rates shown had been adjusted on the current modifications.

Low floors: 8 selected base rates, all SU laborer or operator lines, sit below $13.65, the 2026 Executive Order 13658 minimum. That minimum covers only contracts entered into from 2015 to January 2022 and not renewed (91 FR 5783). The higher Executive Order 14026 floor was revoked on 2025-03-14 and WHD no longer enforces it (DOL WHD).

Florida metros: Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville

Three of the four Florida metros sit below parity, averaging 91.4 as a group. Their SU lines all trace to Florida surveys completed on 2016-08-16.

Orlando (85.5), Tampa (87.0) and Miami (87.6) rank 19th, 18th and 17th of 20. Common laborer base rates are $11.79 in Miami-Dade, $11.84 in Hillsborough, $13.59 in Orange and $13.62 in Duval, against OEWS medians from $19.66 to $21.88.

Jacksonville (105.5) is the only Florida metro above parity, because its electrician, plumber and carpenter lines are union rates. Union plumber rates also lift Miami and Tampa on that trade: 118.8 and 141.2 on the index.

Florida repealed its own prevailing wage law in 1979, according to the DOL WHD state table, so Davis-Bacon determinations are the main published prevailing rates for covered federal and federally assisted building work in these counties (DOL WHD).

How Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates are set and where they apply

WHD surveys wages on comparable projects, applies a majority, 30% or weighted-average rule, and publishes the result by county and construction type. The 2023 rule changed the method and remains in effect except for three enjoined provisions.

• Coverage: federal or District of Columbia contracts over $2,000 for construction, alteration or repair of public buildings or public works (40 U.S.C. 3142). The Related Acts extend the same standards to federally assisted projects (DOL WHD).
• Overtime: on prime contracts over $100,000, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act also requires 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 a week (DOL WHD).
• Method: a rate paid to more than 50% of workers in a classification prevails; otherwise a rate paid to at least 30% prevails; otherwise WHD uses a weighted average (29 CFR part 1).
• Construction types: WHD issues separate determinations for 4 types, building, residential, highway and heavy (DOL WHD).
• 2023 rule: published 2023-08-23 (88 FR 57526) and effective 2023-10-23; it restored the pre-1983 three-step process, allowed ECI updates of old non-union rates and allowed adoption of state rates (DOL WHD FAQ).
• Litigation: on 2024-06-24 a federal court in the Northern District of Texas enjoined three provisions nationwide; WHD states the rest of the rule remains in effect (DOL WHD).

State-adopted rates in practice: every Minneapolis line in this sample carries the identifier SAMN2025-001, dated 2025-12-22, meaning WHD adopted Minnesota's surveyed rates (MN20260053 mod 2). The Hennepin County index is 148.1.

Where the money goes: Davis-Bacon applies to the federal construction spending tracked in federal construction contracts by state. Contractors pricing that work need the WD named in the solicitation; bidding mechanics are covered in how to win commercial construction bids. This report is not legal advice.

What the index cannot tell you

The index compares published minimums with market wages. It does not measure what contractors on federal jobs actually pay.

• Geography: each DBA rate covers one county; OEWS wages cover the whole metropolitan statistical area, including lower-wage outer counties.
• Scope: DBA Building rates apply to building work; OEWS covers all industries and all kinds of work done by the occupation, including residential and maintenance work.
• Skill level: DBA rates are journeyworker minimums; OEWS covers every worker coded to the occupation, and BLS notes that OEWS data do not contain pay by level of work (BLS).
• Timing: OEWS May 2025 pools six semiannual panels from November 2022 to May 2025; WD lines carry their own dates, some from 2009 to 2016.
• Selection: one classification per trade. Union WDs list many groups; a different group can change a cell by several index points.
• Boston: the WD truncates the town lists for the IBEW Local 103 and Plumbers Local 12 lines; we assigned them to Suffolk County by elimination and left Boston's ironworker cell out because the WD does not define its two areas.
• Fringe: base-plus-fringe ratios overstate the premium because OEWS has no benefit component.

Key findings

1. Philadelphia: Davis-Bacon Building base rates average 189.0% of the OEWS May 2025 median wage across four trades (PA20260003, 2026).^[8][22]
2. San Francisco (169.4) and New York (168.3) rank second and third on the 2026 index.^[13][2][22]
3. Dallas County base rates average 70.2% of Dallas-Fort Worth median wages; all four come from a survey completed 2014-07-21.^[5][22]
4. 15 of 20 metros have an index above 100 in 2026; 5 (Charlotte, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Dallas) are below.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}
5. Across 111 trade lines, SU survey rates average 71.5 on the index and union or state-adopted rates 142.7.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}
6. 33 of 34 SU survey lines are below the local OEWS median wage; 2 of 77 union or state-adopted lines are.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}
7. The largest premium is San Francisco plumbers: $85.50 base vs a $37.44 OEWS median (index 228.4).^[13][22]
8. The largest shortfall is Dallas backhoe operators: $13.06 vs $24.70 (index 52.9).^[5][22]
9. The DBA common laborer rate is below the metro OEWS median in 11 of 20 metros.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}
10. SU lines in the 20 WDs are a median 10.1 years old on 2026-10-08.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]}
11. Indexing SU rates by the BLS construction ECI would lift their average from 71.5 to 96.6 (illustration).^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][40][22]}
12. 8 selected base rates are below the $13.65 Executive Order 13658 minimum in effect from 2026-05-11.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][38]}
13. Adding fringe benefits puts 19 of 20 metros above 100, but OEWS excludes benefits, so that version overstates the gap.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][26]}
14. Florida's four metros average 91.4; Jacksonville (105.5) is the only one above 100.^{[9][19][20][21][22]}

Summary for decision makers

• Davis-Bacon Building base rates exceed the OEWS May 2025 median wage in 15 of 20 large metros, averaged across four core trades.
• Philadelphia has the largest premium (index 189.0); Dallas the largest shortfall (70.2).
• Survey-based (SU) lines average 71.5 on the index against 142.7 for union or state-adopted lines; 33 of 34 SU lines sit below market.
• SU lines in the sample are a median 10.1 years old; the oldest dates from 2009.
• Plumbers (143.2) and electricians (139.5) carry the largest average premiums; laborers (103.0) the smallest of the core trades.
• Three of four Florida metros sit below parity; the Florida group averages 91.4.
• Fringe benefits are excluded from OEWS, so the headline compares base rate to wage; base plus fringe is reported separately.

Frequently asked questions

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• Construction Labor Shortage Tracker 2026: Openings, Hires, Quits and Unemployment
• Highest paying cities for construction workers: the 2025 CB&C Real Construction Pay Index

Methodology

Source selection: prevailing wage rates come from Davis-Bacon general wage determinations for Building construction, retrieved from the public SAM.gov search and document API on 2026-10-08, current modification only. Market wages come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 MSA file, released 2026-05-15 and listed as the latest release on the OEWS tables page when checked. Rule context comes from DOL WHD pages, the Federal Register and eCFR. One Tier 3 news report is used only for the 2026 litigation status.

Inclusion: 20 large metros with a principal county; 4 core trades in every metro plus structural ironworkers (19 metros) and backhoe/excavator/trackhoe operators (12 metros) where the WD lists them. Exclusion: Boston ironworkers (area not defined on the WD), operator lines in union WDs that list equipment groups instead of a backhoe classification, and DC operators (not listed).

Classification choices: one journeyworker line per trade, recorded with its rate identifier and wording in scripts/selections.json and fact_sheet.csv; scripts/build_index.py fails if a selected rate is not found in the WD text. Where a WD lists the same trade for several areas, the line naming the principal county was used. Boston electrician and plumber lines were assigned by elimination because the WD truncates their town lists.

Conflicting numbers: none arose between sources for the same figure. The DOL state table says 24 states lack prevailing wage laws while naming 22; both numbers are reported and the table date (2023-01-01) is stated.

Derived metrics: ratio = 100 x DBA base / OEWS median (sensitivity: OEWS mean; base plus fringe). Index = unweighted mean of the four core ratios. Extended index = mean of all available trade ratios. Survey age = days from the SU completion date to 2026-10-08 / 365.25. ECI illustration = base x ECI 2026 Q2 / ECI in the survey-completion quarter (BLS series CIU2022300000000I). All are in derived_metrics.csv and reproducible with the scripts folder.

Limitations: county WD vs MSA wages; building-only rates vs all-industry wages; journeyworker minimums vs all workers; OEWS pools data from November 2022 to May 2025; fringe not comparable. The index measures published minimums, not actual pay on federal jobs. Not legal advice.

Last updated 2026-10-08. Wage determinations change with each modification; re-check SAM.gov before relying on a rate.

This report presents published data with its limitations. It is not legal, financial or investment advice.

Sources, ranked by quality

Tier 1: primary and official sources (44)

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• [3] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number CA20260022, modification 5 (2026-08-06), Building, Los Angeles County, California. Modification 5 published 2026-08-06. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [4] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number IL20260009, modification 2 (2026-05-18), Building, Cook County, Illinois. Modification 2 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [5] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number TX20260241, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Dallas County, Texas. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [6] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number TX20260253, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Harris County, Texas. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [7] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number DC20260002, modification 3 (2026-05-18), Building, Washington, D.C., District of Columbia. Modification 3 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [8] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number PA20260003, modification 2 (2026-10-01), Building, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Modification 2 published 2026-10-01. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [9] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number FL20260215, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Miami-Dade County, Florida. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [10] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number GA20260307, modification 2 (2026-05-18), Building, Fulton County, Georgia. Modification 2 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [11] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number MA20260001, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [12] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number AZ20260039, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Maricopa County, Arizona. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [13] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number CA20260018, modification 8 (2026-09-17), Building, San Francisco County, California. Modification 8 published 2026-09-17. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [14] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number WA20260108, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, King County, Washington. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [15] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number MI20260101, modification 2 (2026-08-13), Building, Wayne County, Michigan. Modification 2 published 2026-08-13. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [16] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number MN20260053, modification 2 (2026-07-30), Building, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Modification 2 published 2026-07-30. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [17] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number CO20260020, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Denver County, Colorado. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [18] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number NC20260008, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [19] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number FL20260208, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Hillsborough County, Florida. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [20] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number FL20260218, modification 1 (2026-05-18), Building, Orange County, Florida. Modification 1 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [21] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, via SAM.gov. General Decision Number FL20260202, modification 2 (2026-05-18), Building, Duval County, Florida. Modification 2 published 2026-05-18. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [22] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. OEWS May 2025 metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area estimates (oesm25ma.zip, MSA_M2025_dl.xlsx). May 2025. Accessed 2026-10-08.
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• [25] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wages Technical Note, May 2025. November 2022 to May 2025 panels. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [26] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. OEWS Frequently Asked Questions. Current. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [27] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Tables. May 2025 latest. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [28] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. Current. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [29] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Final Rule: Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations. 2023 rule, status as posted. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [30] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Final Rule FAQs: Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations. 2023 rule. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [31] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Davis-Bacon final rule comparison charts. 2023 rule. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [32] Federal Register (Office of the Federal Register). Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations, final rule (88 FR 57526, document 2023-17221). Published 2023-08-23. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [33] Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR). 29 CFR 1.2, Definitions (prevailing wage). Current. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [34] Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (U.S. Code text). 40 U.S. Code 3142, Rate of wages for laborers and mechanics. Current. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [35] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Construction Surveys (Davis-Bacon wage survey process). Current. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [36] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Dollar Threshold Amount for Contract Coverage Under State Prevailing Wage Laws. Table dated 2023-01-01. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [37] U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Executive Order 13658, Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors. Current. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [38] Federal Register (Office of the Federal Register). Minimum Wage for Federal Contracts Covered by Executive Order 13658, Notice of Rate Change in Effect (91 FR 5783). Published 2026-02-09. Accessed 2026-10-08.
• [39] Federal Register (Office of the Federal Register). Minimum Wage for Federal Contracts Covered by Executive Order 13658, Notice of Rate Change in Effect for 2027 (91 FR 64403). Published 2026-10-08. Accessed 2026-10-08.
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Tier 3: journalism and expert commentary (1)

• [45] The Daily Reporter (BridgeTower Media). Department of Labor won't touch updated Davis-Bacon rule. Published 2026-08-27. Accessed 2026-10-08.