Construction Foreman
We place this role between $65,000 and $105,000 a year at mid experience, before overtime, bonus and on-call.
What this role pays.
That band is mid experience, built from our own engagement history. Experience and region move it - the salary calculator applies both.
The federal occupation this role reports under is First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (SOC 47-1011), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $79,920 , with the middle of the market between $53,280 and $128,260. BLS counts this job inside that occupation rather than publishing it separately, so the figures cover a slightly wider group than this exact title.
Where it pays most.
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 112 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.
| Metro | Median | Employed there |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose | $129,700 | 4,770 |
| Seattle | $121,130 | 11,040 |
| San Francisco | $120,810 | 9,810 |
| Portland | $112,480 | 5,880 |
| Chicago | $111,260 | 13,420 |
| New York | $103,990 | 28,220 |
| santa rosa ca | $103,600 | 1,200 |
| Minneapolis | $103,290 | 8,310 |
| McAllen | $60,370 | 800 |
| Little Rock | $61,060 | 1,720 |
| killeen tx | $62,310 | 680 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.
Construction Foreman vs Construction Superintendent.
A foreman runs the crew; a superintendent runs the site. The foreman answers for the work in front of them and usually still has tools in the truck. The superintendent answers for sequence, subcontractors and the schedule across every trade on the job. BLS does not separate them - both are first-line supervisors of construction trades - which is why this page and the superintendent page print the same wage table. Our own closed searches do separate them, and the two lists are different jobs in different cities.
Construction Superintendent: what it pays and what the search takes
Credentials that move an offer.
- OSHA 30
Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The Commercial Construction hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.
What the search actually takes.
Across 13 closed commercial construction searches in 2026 year to date, our median was 14 days from first contact with the candidate to hire. That is not a time-to-fill benchmark - our clock starts when we reach the candidate, not when the requisition opened. The full distribution is in the Hiring Index.
Searches we have closed in this seat
2 of them were for this exact seat rather than the trade in general. Each is written up in full on our placements page: what the opening was, what made it hard, and what the person we placed brought.
- Commercial Construction Foreman - Livermore, CA - 21 days from first contact to hire.
- Waterproofing Foreman - Livermore, CA - 20 days from first contact to hire.
Keep reading.
- 2026 Commercial Construction Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
- Commercial Construction recruiting - how we run this trade.
- Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
- Commercial Construction hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
- Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.
Other Commercial Construction roles we recruit
All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.