What Construction Laborers earn in Utah County, UT
According to the latest federal wage data for the Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT metropolitan area, the median pay for Construction Laborers in Utah County, UT is $46,640 a year, or $22.42 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $38,033 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Utah County, UT.
The mean wage is $46,420, which is 0.5% below the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 4,760 people working in this occupation across the Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Utah County, UT has roughly 705,400 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Construction Laborers in the Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $26,880 a year ($12.92 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $61,960 or more ($29.79 an hour). That is a gap of $35,080 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $37,960 at the 25th percentile and $52,560 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.3 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $22.42 an hour or $46,640 a year at the median for Utah County, UT. Before any deductions, that is $3,887 a month, $1,794 every two weeks and $897 each week. After taxes the same job pays $18.28 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Construction Laborers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Construction Laborers this way: "Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Clean or prepare construction sites to eliminate possible hazards"; "Read plans, instructions, or specifications to determine work activities"; "Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials"; "Dig ditches or trenches, backfill excavations, or compact and level earth to grade specifications, using picks, shovels, pneumatic tampers, or rakes".
Job outlook for Construction Laborers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,489,300 jobs in 2025 to 1,598,600 in 2035, a change of +7.3%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 120,000 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 8.1% of current employment each year. About 26.9% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $47,120 for this occupation; the Utah County, UT median of $46,640 is 1.0% below it.
How pay in Utah County, UT compares
Compared with the Utah average
Pay for Construction Laborers in Utah County, UT is in line with the statewide figure: $46,640 locally against an employment-weighted Utah average of $46,661, a difference of only $21 (0.1%). Within Utah, the highest median we track for this job is $47,460 in Salt Lake County, UT.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Construction Laborers is $49,249 across the contiguous United States. At $46,640, Utah County, UT pays $2,609 less, which is 5.3% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Utah County, UT
Among the 397 occupations with published wages in Utah County, UT, Construction Laborers ranks number 253 by median pay, ahead of about 36% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $131,210 a year, which is $84,570 more than the median for Construction Laborers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Construction Laborers earning the Utah County, UT median of $46,640, they add up to $8,607. The result is $38,033 of take-home pay a year ($3,169 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $18 goes to taxes and $82 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.4%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $30,890. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,468, an effective 7.4% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,892 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $676. FICA totals $3,568, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Utah
Utah income tax on this salary is $1,571 a year, or 3.4% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 45% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $131 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Utah County, UT
IRS Statistics of Income data for Utah County, UT show an average adjusted gross income of $95,601 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.6% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 7.4% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Utah County, UT
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Utah County, UT: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $38,033 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Utah County, UT, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,192 a month ($14,304 a year), and at $1,363 for two bedrooms. For Construction Laborers, a one-bedroom absorbs 37.6% of take-home pay and 30.7% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 7.4% of gross pay for Construction Laborers in Utah County, UT. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Utah residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,291 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $511, for $1,802 in total. Gasoline in Utah averages $3.33 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,542.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $21,083 a year in Utah County, UT. Subtract that from $38,033 of take-home pay and $16,949 remains, which is $1,412 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 36.3% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Utah County, UT
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Utah County, UT: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Utah County, UT, set beside the Utah and national medians.
Property taxes in Utah County, UT
Homeowners in Utah County, UT pay a median of $2,370 a year in real estate taxes, 6% below the Utah median of $2,525 and 24% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $538,700, the median tax bill is 0.44% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Construction Laborers median of $46,640, a tax bill of that size would equal 5.1% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Utah County, UT
Renters in Utah County, UT pay a median gross rent of $1,541 a month in the Census survey, 3% above the Utah median of $1,496. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,192 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $538,700, 10% above the Utah median of $489,400. Median household income is $100,671, 6% above the Utah median of $95,166, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 14.2% of that income.
Commuting in Utah County, UT
Workers in Utah County, UT who travel to a workplace spend an average of 22.6 minutes each way, 2% above the Utah average of 22.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 19.0% of workers in Utah County, UT work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Construction Laborers afford to live in Utah County, UT?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $46,640 that ceiling is $1,166 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,192 is $26 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $22.92 an hour; the median for Construction Laborers is $22.42, which is 2% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.28 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 15.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,363 a month means $682 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,126 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $23,075.
How fast you can save
At $1,412 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 8 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 16 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Construction Laborers pay in Utah County, UT
How much do Construction Laborers make per hour in Utah County, UT?
The median is $22.42 per hour, based on $46,640 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $12.92 at the 10th percentile to $29.79 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Construction Laborers take home after taxes in Utah County, UT?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $46,640 becomes $38,033 a year. That is $3,169 a month, $1,463 every two weeks or $731 a week.
How much tax do Construction Laborers pay in Utah County, UT?
Total taxes are $8,607 a year, an effective rate of 18.4%: $3,468 federal income tax, $3,568 FICA and $1,571 Utah income tax.
Do Construction Laborers earn more in Utah County, UT than elsewhere in Utah?
It is about the same. The local median of $46,640 is within 0.1% of the Utah average of $46,661.
Can Construction Laborers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Utah County, UT?
A one-bedroom costs $1,192 a month against take-home pay of $3,169, which is 37.6% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,166 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Construction Laborers in Utah County, UT?
About $1,412 a month ($16,949 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,083 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Utah County, UT at the 30% guideline?
$22.92 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,304 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Construction Laborers is $22.42.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Utah rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.