A new report identifies the highest-rated construction jobs

Dive Brief:

• Electricians have the best home improvement jobs in 2022, according to a new study that considers pay, job growth and ease of joining the industry. High earning potential, strong growth opportunities and an established field placed electricians at the top of the list for Porch, a site that connects homeowners with local contractors.
• Plumbers, steel workers, carpenters and plasterers rounded out Porch’s top five residential construction jobs for 2022. 
• As demand for workers continues to increase, 68% of tradespeople struggled to hire new workers, while demand for carpenters, painters and electricians has doubled since 2021 began. 

Dive Insight:

Landscape architects make the best money of the positions studied. According to Porch, landscape architects can earn $34 an hour, or roughly $70,630 a year. That position tends to require a four-year degree at least, though workers could also study at the graduate level. Plumbing and electrician positions, on the other hand, tend to have smaller education requirements to enter and make $27-$28 hourly or roughly between $56,000 and $59,000 a year.

The report projects electricians will also be among the highest growing contracting jobs — ranking fourth in Porch’s report, with an expected growth of 9.1% in the next decade. That number is nowhere near solar photovoltaic installers, however, which are expected to grow by 52% in the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as demand for solar energy increases. 

Porch attributed some of the positive scores given to electricians to their numbers. Only carpenters ranked ahead of electricians in the number of people in the occupation — 699,300 to 656,510. The larger the number of workers in a specific trade, Porch pointed out, the more likely those workers will have access to unions, support, recruiting and other resources.

Ease of Entry was the only category in which electricians didn’t crack the top five. Insulation workers, who make on average $45,820 a year, may be able to start with a high school diploma, a month of experience, and on-the-job training.