Although the pay gap for construction managers and workers is lower than the national average, women are clearly underrepresented in the construction sector, particularly in construction trade jobs. Table of Contents
Ahead of Women’s History Month and Women in Construction Week — which takes place the second week of March — Today’s Homeowner examined outstanding questions: Why do so few women work in construction, and why aren’t more women considering joining the field? Beyond analyzing the data, we discuss some of the challenges women in construction face, as well as solutions for improving representation in the future. For more information on our sources, see the Methodology section below.
key findings
Women make up about 9% of construction managers, but only 3% of construction trade workers.
The pay gap between female and male construction managers is about six percentage points lower than the national average across all occupations (88.9% vs. 83.0%). For construction trade workers the gap is about 83.7%, or 0.7 percentage points better than the national average.
Among jobs related to the construction trade, women are most commonly employed in the occupations of painters and paperhangers (10.2%), as well as construction and building inspectors (8.0%).
Seven of the 10 states with the highest percentage of female construction trades workers are in the South.
In two states, Delaware and South Dakota, less than one in 100 construction workers are women.
Changes in the pay gap in the construction industry
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that the pay gap for construction managers has narrowed over the past decade, but the gap has grown for construction trade workers. In 2017, female construction managers earned about 86 cents on the dollar relative to male construction managers. Meanwhile, female construction trade workers, on average, earned more than men, earning about 101 cents on the dollar.
In recent years, the pay gap for construction managers has improved, but it has gotten worse for construction trade workers. For construction managers, it narrowed by 2.5 percentage points, from 86.4% in 2017 to 88.9% in 2022. While for construction trade workers, it increased by more than 17 percentage points, from 100.8% in 2017 to 83.7% in 2022. The chart below shows the change in the pay gap for construction managers and workers.
Female representation in construction
Women are overrepresented in managerial construction roles compared to trade roles. Overall, there are approximately 58,000 female construction managers and 211,000 female construction workers in the US. Compared to overall business sizes, women make up approximately 8.8% of construction managers and 3.3% of construction and extraction workers.
Across a variety of specialties within construction and extraction work, female representation varies. About 10.2% of painters and paperhangers are women, but only 1.0% of plumbers are women. Two other construction trade specialties with extremely low percentages of female workers are construction equipment operators (1.4%) and sheet metal workers (1.6%).
Women are significantly misrepresented in all skilled labor jobs including plumbers, roofers, HVAC installers , etc.
Geographic differences in female construction trade representation
Nationally, women make up just 3.3% of construction trade workers, but this figure varies significantly by state. In South Carolina — the state with the highest share of female construction workers — nearly one in 20 construction and extraction workers is a woman.
Six additional Southern states rank in the top 10 with the most female construction trade workers. These include Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee. In all six states, at least one in 25 construction trade workers is female.
In addition to the strong relative representation in the South, there are several states in the Pacific Northwest that have a higher percentage of women among construction trade workers. Washington, Idaho, and Montana are the remaining three states in the top 10.
In many states, the figure is much lower. Notably, women make up less than 1% of construction trade workers in Delaware and South Dakota. The map below shows the share of women in construction trade jobs by state.
Challenges faced by women construction workers
One of the main reasons for the low percentage of women in the construction sector is that it is considered a male-dominated industry. Due to this perception, the number of women considering a career in the construction sector may be low.
Kendall Pauland – president of construction consulting firm Build Better Ways – comments on this, saying, “I believe the main reason young people, but especially women, are not joining the industry is that construction is misunderstood as a profession. Many people do not understand how far the construction industry has come in technology, safety, robotics, and general job diversification.”
Additionally, there are a number of challenges facing women seeking to enter the construction sector, particularly those women who want to go into construction.
A major problem is sexual harassment and discrimination. According to a 2018 Engineering News-Record report , about 66% of female respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment or gender bias in the workplace, and about 60% said they had witnessed it.
Second, the National Association of Women in Construction has highlighted the fact that safety equipment is often not suitable for women. Construction equipment is usually one size fits all, but this is often not the case for smaller women. Ill-fitting equipment can significantly impact worker safety.
Finally, long days and irregular schedules are common in the construction industry. These are often less favorable to women whose children depend on them for their primary care.
Ways to increase female representation in the sector
Experts cite outreach and educational programs as two ways to increase women’s representation in the construction sector.
“One strategy to increase the participation of women in the construction industry is to promote gender diversity and inclusion through targeted recruitment efforts and training programs,” says Whitney Hill, Head of Business Development and Innovation at SnapADU .
She adds, “This could include partnering with schools and universities to encourage women to consider a career in construction, providing mentorship and leadership opportunities for women already in the industry, and creating support groups and networks to help women make connections and advance their careers.”
Additionally, leaders and workers in the field should work to address issues of harassment and discrimination in the workplace. This can include efforts to promote diversity and inclusion, as well as policies and training programs aimed at preventing harassment and inequality. By doing so, industry professionals can create a more inclusive environment for women in the construction industry.
Methodology
Data for this report comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau. To calculate the states with the most female construction trade workers, we considered workers in the construction and extraction industries, as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We looked at two metrics for each state:
- The proportion of women among construction and extraction workers.
- Number of construction and extraction workers.
We then calculated the share of women in construction and extraction workers and ranked states accordingly. Note, although the Census Bureau reports median income data for female construction and extraction workers by state, we decided not to report on them due to high standard errors that fall outside our editorial standards.
fair usage policy
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