These Are the Most Unaffordable Cities for Construction Workers

The construction industry is continuing to experience a labor shortage, and this is only made more challenging by the lack of affordable housing in the cities where workers live. Housing affordability has worsened over time due to rising home prices driven by increased demand and limited inventory, among other factors. At the same time, wages for construction workers have not kept up with this inflation. According to Construction Dive, the average wage for construction workers in 2024 is down 10% from its 2020 peak, and the median home price as of mid-2024 is over $412,000—a 30% increase in four years.

Many of the least affordable metros for construction workers to live are in California, with San Jose, San Francisco, and San Diego, topping the list. In San Jose, workers would have to work 175 hours per week to afford the median-priced home, while workers in San Francisco and San Diego would have to work 126 hours per week to afford the median-priced home.

Inflated home prices in many cities mean that the workers who build homes often cannot afford to buy them. Indeed, California construction workers would have to work 101 hours per week to afford a median-priced home in their home state, more than double a typical 40-hour work week. This calculation assumes that a worker would spend no more than 30% of their income on housing, a common home affordability rule. Construction workers in Hawaii (90 hours), Utah (85 hours), and Idaho (80 hours) would also have to work over double the standard work week to manage the monthly mortgage payments for a median-priced home. At the other end of the spectrum, in West Virginia home prices are affordable enough—and construction median wages are high enough—that a construction worker would only have to work 28 weekly hours to be able to afford a median-priced home.

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