How much do construction laborers make in Colorado in 2026?

Construction laborers in Colorado earn a median wage of $47,900 per year, which works out to roughly $23.03 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's the midpoint — half of all laborers in the state earn more, half earn less. It's a reasonable baseline for anyone pricing out a job offer or negotiating a raise.

The bottom of the middle range starts at $42,700 annually (~$20.53/hr). Workers at this 25th percentile are typically newer to the trade, working for smaller residential contractors, or in areas of Colorado where construction volume is lower. If you're being offered something below $20.53/hr for general laborer work in Colorado, the data says you're being underpaid relative to at least 75% of your peers.

At the 75th percentile, Colorado construction laborers bring in $56,670 per year, or about $27.25 an hour. Getting to that number usually means a combination of specialization, geography, and time on the job. Laborers who operate equipment, work on heavy civil or infrastructure projects, or hold certifications like OSHA 30, hazmat, or confined-space entry tend to land on the higher end of the range. So do workers in the Denver metro, Boulder, and the I-25 corridor, where demand from commercial developers and transportation projects keeps wages up.

The spread between the 25th and 75th percentile is $13,970 per year — nearly $6.73 more per hour at the top than the bottom. That's not small. It means the choices you make about what type of work you pursue and where you work inside Colorado have a real dollar impact over the course of a year.

Geography matters more than many laborers realize. The Front Range — Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins — consistently draws large commercial and infrastructure contracts that pay better than rural markets. Mountain resort towns like Vail and Aspen also see elevated wages, but those are often seasonal and come with high cost of living that eats into take-home pay. Eastern and Western Slope rural areas tend to track closer to the 25th percentile.

Type of contractor also drives pay. Laborers on highway and heavy construction projects typically earn more than those doing residential site cleanup or concrete finishing for a small homebuilder. Union signatory contractors follow negotiated wage schedules, though no specific union scale for construction laborers in Colorado was available for this data set.

Hours also vary by season and project type. Colorado winters can slow outdoor construction significantly, which means some laborers see gaps in their annual hours. Workers who move between trades or pick up indoor work during slow periods can protect their annual earnings. If you're working 1,800 hours instead of 2,080 in a year, the hourly rate matters less than the total you take home.

For context, the data here comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey for May 2025, which covers actual reported wages from employers across Colorado. It's a large survey and the most reliable statewide benchmark available for this trade.

If you're a laborer weighing a job offer, use $23.03/hr as your anchor for median work in Colorado and $27.25/hr as the realistic ceiling for experienced, specialized, or metro-based workers. If you're an employer, these numbers reflect what the market is actually paying — not what someone posted on a job board.