What It Costs to Hire a Mason or Concrete Finisher in 2026

Short answer: There is no single "masonry" wage figure, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks these as three separate occupations. Brickmasons and blockmasons carry a national median of roughly $62,120 a year; cement masons and concrete finishers run lower, around $57,020; stonemasons sit similarly around $57,390. All three move a lot by metro and specialty, and restoration or tuckpointing masons in particular command more than the general median because that work is harder to staff.

Quick answer

• There's no single "mason" salary — brickmasons ($62,120), concrete finishers ($57,020), and stonemasons ($57,390) are tracked as three separate BLS occupations with three separate medians.
• Restoration and tuckpointing work pays above the general median, because matching existing mortar, brick, and stone is a rarer skill than setting new material to spec.
• Search volume for "hire a mason" is nearly nonexistent — about 50 combined searches a month, against roughly 900 for pay-related terms. This is a referral-driven hiring market, not a search-driven one.
• There's no single universal certification for masons or finishers themselves. The one credential that does matter — ACI Field Testing Technician — applies specifically to concrete testing and quality-control roles.
• A standing, vetted pipeline outperforms reactive posting in a labor pool this small and specialized.

Why there's no single "masonry salary" to budget from

Masonry and concrete work spans genuinely different jobs, and the pay data reflects that. Brickmasons and blockmasons build brick, block, and stone walls. Cement masons and concrete finishers handle flatwork, slabs, and surface finishing — different tools, different muscle memory, different pay. Stonemasons work a third distinct discipline. Budgeting from a single blended "masonry" number will consistently misprice at least two of the three.

The honest picture gets clearer once you look at the search data behind it. People searching masonry-related terms online are almost entirely looking up pay rates and licensing information — call it roughly 900 combined monthly searches across the salary cluster, with certification and licensing terms adding another 350 or so. Search volume for hiring help itself — "hire a mason" and similar — sits at only around 50 combined searches a month. Almost nobody types that into Google, because this hiring runs on referral networks and existing trade relationships far more than open search.

What actually moves pay in this trade

Which discipline, specifically. Brickmasons and blockmasons ($62,120 median), cement masons and concrete finishers ($57,020), and stonemasons ($57,390) are not interchangeable, and a job posting that blurs them will draw the wrong applicants for at least one of the three.

Restoration versus new construction. Restoration and tuckpointing work — historic masonry repair that requires matching existing mortar composition, brick or stone color, and joint profile rather than setting new material to a modern spec — commands more than the general median because it's a smaller, harder-to-staff specialty within an already small trade.

Verified field-testing credentials, for the roles that need them. For concrete testing and quality-control specifically, an ACI (American Concrete Institute) Field Testing Technician credential is the standard most state DOTs and specs require. For masons and finishers themselves, there isn't a single universal license the way there is in some other trades — what matters is documented years in the specific work and references you can actually call.

The roles, and what they cost

• Bricklayer / Mason ($62,120 median) — brick, block, and stone wall construction.
• Concrete Finisher ($57,020 median) — flatwork, slabs, and surface finishing.
• Concrete Form Setter / Carpenter — form-setting specialty within the broader carpentry trade.
• Masonry Foreman — first-line supervision on masonry and concrete crews.
• Concrete Pump Operator — specialized equipment-operator role.
• Restoration Mason — tuckpointing and historic-restoration specialty, commanding a premium over general bricklaying.
• Precast Concrete Technician — factory-side molding and casting work.
• Concrete Testing Technician — ACI-certified field testing; the one role in this trade with a real, verifiable credential attached.
• Estimator and Project Manager — takeoffs, bid pricing, and bid-to-build oversight on masonry and concrete scopes.

Why job boards can't tell you what you're actually paying for

A resume that says "10 years masonry experience" doesn't tell you whether that's flatwork, vertical brick, or restoration — three different skill sets that don't transfer cleanly between each other. And because there's no single license gating entry to this trade the way there is in electrical or plumbing work, verification comes down to documented project history and references, not a credential you can check against a state board.

The one place a real credential does exist — ACI Field Testing Technician, for concrete quality control — is worth verifying directly, since most state DOTs and project specs require it by name for anyone testing fresh concrete on a job site.

Building real pay data into your hiring process

1. Price by discipline, not a blended "masonry" number. Brickmasons, concrete finishers, and stonemasons have different medians for a reason.
2. Budget a premium for restoration and tuckpointing work specifically. It's a smaller, harder-to-staff pool than general new-construction masonry.
3. Verify ACI certification directly for testing and QC roles, rather than accepting a resume claim at face value.
4. Ask for specific project types, not just years of experience. Flatwork, vertical brick, block, and restoration all draw on different skills.
5. Expect to source through referral, not job boards. With "hire a mason" search volume this thin, most of your candidate pool won't be reachable by posting alone.

When to bring in a specialized recruiter

If masonry or concrete seats are sitting open with no real applicant flow, if you're not sure how to verify a candidate's actual specialty match, or if a restoration or precast role is stretching your internal sourcing past its bandwidth — that's the point to bring in a recruiter who understands the real differences between these disciplines and can reach the referral-network pool that job boards never touch. That's the whole model: a flat monthly fee, a continuous pipeline built specifically for your market, and the same team working it for the life of the partnership.