Commercial construction recruiters serving Cleveland.
Standard Cleveland superintendents sit right at the national average. Superintendents with hospital-construction portfolio experience are the exception - Cleveland Clinic's three concurrent capital projects, worth more than $1.5B combined, are drawing on a specialized, scarce pool.
National-average baseline, plus a healthcare-construction premium.
Standard commercial construction superintendents in Cleveland sit right at the national average, and estimators run only a modest 3% premium.
Superintendents with hospital-construction portfolio experience are the exception. The metro's own data names this directly, tied to Cleveland Clinic's three concurrent capital projects - a $1.1B Neurological Institute, a $322M Avon campus expansion, and a $142M Unified Operations Center - all requiring infection control, phased occupied-space work, and healthcare code compliance.
We recruit across the full org chart for commercial GCs in Cleveland, and we verify real ICRA-compliant hospital-delivery experience rather than a line on a resume.
The story behind the scarcity.
Three concurrent Cleveland Clinic capital projects, all competing for the same short bench of hospital-construction-experienced superintendents.
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1M sq ft, 210 inpatient rooms, 14 operating rooms, completing Q4 2026 - one of the largest single healthcare capital projects in Ohio, requiring hospital-grade mechanical and ICRA-compliant construction at scale.
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Broke ground July 2026, completing 2029. Multi-phase expansion adding roughly 250,000 sq ft of clinical space in Lorain County - sustained, multi-year demand outside the core city.
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600,000 sq ft facility in Walton Hills for 526 relocated/new jobs, completing late 2028 - large-footprint commercial construction distinct from the hospital-grade work driving the other Clinic projects.
What you'll actually pay - by role.
Hourly wage ranges based on BLS OEWS data for the Cleveland MSA. The superintendent and estimator rows both match the metro overview's own published figures directly. Read the "notes" column for context on the derived hospital-construction premium. National benchmarks by role are in the 2026 Commercial Construction Salary Guide.
| Role | Metro wage range | Typical experience | Market notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant project manager | $33 – $43/hr | 2-5 yrs | Scaled proportionally below the derived project manager row, consistent with the ratio used on our Dallas-Fort Worth commercial-construction page |
| Project manager (commercial GC) | $46 – $59/hr | 5-10 yrs | Scaled proportionally below the published superintendent row, consistent with the ratio used on our Dallas-Fort Worth commercial-construction page |
| Safety manager | $38 – $48/hr | 5+ yrs | Scaled to Cleveland's general commercial-construction premium; occupied-hospital construction carries real safety-compliance scope |
| Commercial construction manager / superintendent | $54 – $69/hr | 10+ yrs | Matches the commercial construction superintendent figure already published on the Cleveland metro overview directly (+1% over national) |
| Superintendent (hospital-construction portfolio) | $59 – $75/hr | 10+ yrs | A +9% derived premium over the published standard-superintendent row, borrowed from the hub's own ICRA-trained mechanical technician wage row - both tied to the same named driver, Cleveland Clinic's concurrent hospital capital projects |
| Commercial estimator (5+ yrs) | $43 – $56/hr | 5+ yrs | Matches the commercial estimator figure already published on the Cleveland metro overview directly (+3% over national) |
Source: BLS OEWS (Cleveland MSA), construction management occupational codes, projected to 2026. Actual offer rates depend on portfolio type (standard commercial vs. hospital-construction), years of experience, and project complexity.
What candidates expect. What credentials matter. What kills offers.
We don't tell prospective clients who their competitors are hiring - that's a discipline our clients value, and we'll honor it on a call. What we will share publicly: how the Cleveland commercial construction hiring game actually plays out in 2026. The five things below are what we tell every Cleveland construction client at intake.
Why hospital-construction experience is the scarcest credential
Cleveland's own market data names superintendents with hospital-construction experience - infection control, phased occupied-space work, healthcare code compliance - as recruited specifically for Cleveland Clinic's pipeline, which is running three concurrent projects worth more than $1.5B combined.
Where Cleveland commercial construction talent comes from
We recruit across the full org chart for commercial GCs in Cleveland. Standard superintendents and PMs draw on a genuinely available pipeline in a market that sits right at national-average wages. Hospital-construction-portfolio superintendents are the harder fill, absorbed by the Clinic's simultaneous build-out.
Credentials worth filtering for
Ohio licenses Electrical, HVAC, Hydronics, Plumbing, and Refrigeration contractors statewide through OCILB, with no state general contractor license. What actually separates candidates in Cleveland: verified ICRA-compliant, phased-occupied-space healthcare delivery experience.
What candidates expect from a Cleveland construction-management offer in 2026
Standard superintendent comp sits right at national average and estimator comp runs a modest 3% premium. Hospital-construction-portfolio candidates expect considerably more given how concentrated that experience is around the Clinic's pipeline.
Realistic timelines, by role
Project managers and assistant PMs: 4-6 weeks intake to signed offer. Hospital-construction-portfolio superintendents run longer, typically 6-9 weeks, because Cleveland Clinic's three concurrent projects are drawing on the same specialized healthcare-construction labor pool. First slate of vetted candidates within 48 hours regardless.
The construction-management positions we fill, most often.
Across all Cleveland commercial construction clients, these are the highest-volume roles we've recruited for in the last 24 months. Hospital-construction-portfolio superintendents are the role in genuine short supply - everything else draws on Cleveland's own available regional pipeline.
- Assistant project manager
- Project manager (commercial GC)
- Safety manager
- Superintendent
- Superintendent (hospital-construction portfolio)
- Senior estimator
For the broader picture across every commercial trade in Cleveland, see the Cleveland metro overview. To learn more about commercial construction generally (across all 100+ markets we serve), see our Commercial Construction industry page.
How we recruit commercial construction in Cleveland, plainly.
Same approach we use in every market - but tuned for what works in Cleveland's commercial construction segment specifically:
- Same-day intake call. We get the role, the project context, the budget, your dealbreakers. For Cleveland construction management, we also confirm whether the role needs hospital-construction portfolio experience specifically, since that changes both the sourcing pool and the offer math.
- Candidate sourcing within 48 hours. We pull from our existing Cleveland construction-management candidate network for standard roles. For hospital-construction-portfolio roles, we draw on candidates with verified ICRA-compliant, occupied-healthcare-space delivery experience specifically.
- Vetted short list (week one for standard roles). Three to five candidates. We verify real project-delivery history - dollar value, portfolio type, OSHA 30 - rather than a line on a resume.
- Offer and close. Project managers and assistant PMs close in 4-6 weeks. Hospital-construction-portfolio superintendents run longer, typically 6-9 weeks. We help with offer math against Cleveland's own wage table.
Cleveland sits at about the national rate for commercial construction — neither unusually deep nor unusually thin.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 , Construction Managers (nearest published occupation for this trade). Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Cleveland's commercial construction market compares
In 2023 the Cleveland metro had 296 commercial and institutional building contractors (counted by business location), with about 4,186 people on their payrolls. Average pay at those firms was $86,803, 10.1% below the national average of $96,510 for the same kind of employer. That works out to 14 per 100,000 residents against 17 nationally. Fewer local employers means experienced people are easier to identify, but many work for firms based outside the metro. These firms account for 10.9% of all construction employment in the metro.
Among the 100 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Cleveland ranks 32nd for headcount, 88th for median pay and 40th for concentration for construction managers.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | 4,000 | $105,200 | 1.48 | 288 |
| Cincinnati | 3,050 | $104,710 | 1.13 | 327 |
| Cleveland | 2,630 | $101,440 | 1.04 | 296 |
| Dayton | 960 | $98,070 | 1.06 | 93 |
| Akron | 920 | $102,630 | 1.18 | 90 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For commercial construction employers in Cleveland, the pool is about the national norm for its size, so difficulty depends on the role more than the market.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Cleveland metro. Employers are counted by business location.
How Cleveland's commercial construction market has changed since 2018.
The number of commercial and institutional building contractors in Cleveland rose from 292 in 2018 to 296 in 2023, up 1%, behind the 13% growth nationally.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial and institutional building contractors: business locations | 292 | 296 | +1% |
| Commercial and institutional building contractors: employment | – | 4,186 | – |
| Commercial and institutional building contractors: average annual pay | – | $86,803 | – |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Frequently asked — commercial construction hiring in Cleveland.
Why is hospital-construction experience the scarcest hire in Cleveland?
Cleveland Clinic is running three major capital projects concurrently: a $1.1B, 1-million-square-foot Neurological Institute completing Q4 2026, a $322M Avon campus expansion, and a $142M Unified Operations Center. Together worth more than $1.5B, they're pulling superintendents who understand infection control and phased occupied-space work into a specialized, premium-priced pool.
Does Ohio require a general contractor license for commercial construction work in Cleveland?
Ohio has no state-level general contractor license, but licenses Electrical, HVAC, Hydronics, Plumbing, and Refrigeration contractors statewide through the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB), requiring a qualifying individual, trade and business/law exams, and at least $500,000 in liability insurance.
Are Cleveland commercial construction wages higher than the national average?
Only slightly for standard roles - superintendents sit right at national average and estimators run about 3% above. The real premium is portfolio-specific: hospital-construction-portfolio superintendents command considerably more than the standard rate.
What do construction laborers earn in Cleveland?
BLS puts the Cleveland median for construction laborers at $57,180 a year, 21% above the $47,120 national median. That ranks 23rd of 112 metros with published figures, in the top quarter. Experience carries a clear premium, $37,670 at the 10th percentile against $79,790 at the 90th - a 2.1x gap - so an offer at the median mostly reaches newer workers. Within Ohio, Columbus pays more, at $60,540.
Is it hard to hire construction laborers in Cleveland?
Yes. Cleveland has 22% fewer construction laborers per job than the country as a whole, roughly 5,660 in the metro, so most of the people worth hiring are already employed. The 296 commercial and institutional building contractors here average about 14 employees per location.
Which commercial construction roles pay the most in Cleveland?
Of the roles we recruit for, Project Manager pays the most in Cleveland, a $101,440 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Heavy Equipment Operator at $71,740, 29% below it. Construction Laborer is the lowest-paid field role at $57,180. Relative to national pay, Construction Laborer is the strongest-paying role here (21% above). Project Manager trails national pay the most (12% below).
How many commercial and institutional building contractors operate in Cleveland?
BLS counted 296 commercial and institutional building contractors in Cleveland in 2023, employing about 4,186 people between them. That is roughly where the count stood in 2018 (292). That averages 14 people per location. They pay an average of $86,803, 10% below the $96,510 national average for the same kind of employer.
Which nearby metros compete with Cleveland for construction laborers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Akron (30 miles, about 1,830, $58,830 median), Detroit (90 miles, about 11,610, $57,430 median) and Pittsburgh (115 miles, about 8,620, $50,600 median). Detroit has the larger pool, so it is the first place to look for senior people willing to move. Cleveland out-pays Pittsburgh, an advantage when recruiting from there.
3 commercial construction seats are open in Ohio right now.
Nothing is open for this trade in Cleveland this week. These are the live commercial construction searches elsewhere in Ohio - commuting distance for some of them, a relocation conversation for the rest.
- Architectural Project ManagerApply →
- Junior Project Manager (Architecture / Commercial Projects)Apply →
- Service Project ManagerApply →
Every open role we are running →
Board last synced September 28, 2026. Roles move fast; /jobs/ is always the current list.
Hiring commercial construction talent in Cleveland?
Tell us the role. We'll tell you wages, timeline, and where we'd source the candidate - in under 30 minutes.