Commercial Construction Superintendent Salary: Dallas vs. Houston vs. Phoenix

Short answer: Superintendent compensation in Dallas, Houston and Phoenix should be compared against the same national leadership anchors, then adjusted for local construction demand, project type, travel, vehicle and per diem, and the candidate's project history. BLS reports an $86,450 annual mean wage for first-line supervisors of construction trades nationally and a $114,990 median for construction managers, but experienced commercial superintendents can sit between or above those categories depending on scope.

Key takeaways

• Start from the same national anchors in all three metros. First-line construction supervisors: $86,450 annual mean. Construction managers: $114,990 median, and $126,690 in nonresidential building construction (BLS, May 2025).
• Dallas-Fort Worth: watch the big-project pull. Industrial, semiconductor, data-center and infrastructure work can move a super's expectations more than any citywide average.
• Houston: expect industrial and energy competition. A super with heavy commercial, healthcare or industrial experience often has more than one path open.
• Phoenix: price demand and project-type mobility. How willing a candidate is to move between project types changes what they'll hold out for.
• Compare packages, not base salaries. Truck, fuel, per diem, home time and travel can make a higher base the worse job.

How to read this report

The wage figures here are national federal data, not Dallas, Houston or Phoenix offers. The metro sections are recruiting analysis: what tends to shape a superintendent search in each market, not a local wage survey. My Trade Talent's own published facts are limited to our track record, covered further down. Use the report to decide which assumptions to test with real superintendent candidates in your metro before you set a number.

Dallas-Fort Worth

DFW employers should distinguish local commercial work from candidates being pulled into large-scale industrial, semiconductor, data-center and infrastructure projects. Project type and travel can create bigger pay differences than citywide averages.

In practice, start by asking what the super is running right now. A superintendent coming off a large industrial or data-center job may be comparing your offer against a package built for that scale of work, travel included. A super who has spent years on local commercial work in the metroplex is a different comparison, and may value staying close to home. Our DFW commercial trades hiring market report and the Dallas-Fort Worth market page cover the wider picture, and our DFW commercial construction page covers the trade.

Houston

Houston's commercial market overlaps with industrial and energy-related labor competition. A superintendent with heavy commercial, healthcare or industrial experience may have multiple adjacent paths that affect switching expectations.

That means your real competitor may not be another commercial GC. Ask which paths the candidate is actually weighing. A super who has run healthcare or industrial work may be hearing from employers outside your segment, and your offer has to beat the best of those options, not just their last job. More on the market in our Houston commercial trades hiring report, the Houston market page and Houston commercial construction.

Phoenix

Phoenix has seen sustained growth across advanced manufacturing, data centers, logistics and commercial development. Employers recruiting experienced supers should price both local demand and the candidate's willingness to move between project types.

The second half of that is the part employers skip. A super who is open to moving from commercial into manufacturing or data-center work has more options and will price them in. One who wants to stay in commercial may put more weight on project continuity and home time than on the top-line number. Find out which one you're talking to before you make the offer. See the Phoenix market page and Phoenix commercial construction.

How to compare offers

A higher base can still be a worse job if the candidate loses home time or takes on unpredictable travel. Normalize every offer on the same line items before you compare:

• Base salary and bonus: What's guaranteed, and what the bonus is actually tied to.
• Truck or vehicle allowance and fuel: Can matter as much to a super as a bump in base.
• Per diem and travel: How often the job leaves the metro, and what home time looks like.
• PTO and retirement: The benefits a candidate gives up by leaving are part of the switching math.
• Project location: Commute and site distance change the job as much as pay does.

The national anchors help here too. A super whose scope looks more like construction management, especially in nonresidential building work, should be benchmarked closer to the $114,990 and $126,690 construction-manager medians than to the supervisor mean. Use the salary calculator or the commercial construction salary guide as a starting point, then test the package against the reasons in why construction superintendents leave.

Why we see this search differently

My Trade Talent recruits direct-hire across 20 commercial trades, with 597+ completed placements since 2022 across 240 distinct position titles. A superintendent in Houston and one in Phoenix can carry the same title with very different switching math, and that's what we price against. We work on a flat monthly model, not a percentage-of-salary fee. For the full search process, see how to hire a commercial construction superintendent.

Bottom line

Do not choose a superintendent salary from a generic national chart. Benchmark the project responsibility, then validate the package against candidates who have actually run comparable work in the metro. If you're pricing a superintendent in DFW, Houston or Phoenix, schedule a discovery call.

About the author

Michael Carter is President of My Trade Talent. He has been building outbound hiring programs since 2014, and commercial-trades talent pipelines since 2021. His work focuses on helping commercial-trades employers build repeatable direct-hire pipelines for hard-to-reach talent.