Paving & asphalt recruiters serving Scranton-Wilkes-Barre.
Site work across NorthPoint's 1,280-acre campus and AWS's Salem Township facility drives substantial, sustained heavy-civil demand.
Two concurrent data center megasites.
Metro pay for every role we recruit is in the table below. What it does publish: a heavy equipment operator (data center site work) rate of $25-$33/hr against a national range of $23-$30/hr - a premium of roughly +8%. We treat that as the closest documented proxy, not a general paving figure.
That baseline sits alongside two named data center campuses - NorthPoint Development's 1,280-acre, 15-building proposal in Hazle Township (value undisclosed) and AWS's Salem Township facility, part of a $20B combined Pennsylvania investment.
We recruit across the full org chart for paving and asphalt contractors in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre against that documented context.
Two data center campuses, one region.
NorthPoint and AWS, both building at scale simultaneously.
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A 15-building data center campus proposed on roughly 1,280 acres - the largest named site work driver in this market, even without a disclosed dollar figure.
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One of two Amazon Web Services data centers in the state, adding further sustained heavy-civil demand alongside NorthPoint.
What paving & asphalt roles pay in Scranton.
In the Scranton metro, BLS puts the median for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators at $59,330 a year, in line with the $59,850 national median. Among the 112 metros BLS publishes for this occupation, Scranton ranks 59th on pay. The range runs from $46,780 at the 10th percentile to $90,120 at the 90th, so experience is priced well above the middle of the market. Of the other field roles, cement mason / concrete finisher pays the most locally, at a $58,000 median. BLS does not publish Scranton pay for paving equipment operator, which it withholds where a metro's sample is too small to be reliable. National benchmarks by role are in the 2026 Paving & Asphalt Salary Guide.
| Role | Scranton median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paving Equipment OperatorPaving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators (47-2071) | – | – | $53,340 | – | – |
| Heavy Equipment OperatorOperating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators (47-2073) | $59,330 | $46,780–$90,120 | $59,850 | −1% | 950 |
| Construction LaborerConstruction Laborers (47-2061) | $48,290 | $37,330–$73,170 | $47,120 | +2% | 1,450 |
| Cement Mason / Concrete FinisherCement Masons and Concrete Finishers (47-2051) | $58,000 | $40,070–$79,320 | $57,020 | +2% | 140 |
| Dump Truck DriverHeavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) | $57,580 | $39,670–$78,830 | $58,640 | −2% | 5,210 |
| Paving ForemanFirst-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $78,660 | $57,210–$124,990 | $79,920 | −2% | – |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Scranton metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile. Headcount is shown for field occupations only; management, estimating and supervisory codes are counted across every industry in the metro.
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 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre paving and asphalt hiring actually plays out in 2026.
Why we report NorthPoint honestly without a dollar figure
The hub names NorthPoint's value as undisclosed. Rather than estimate a dollar figure for a 1,280-acre, 15-building campus, we report the scale honestly and leave the dollar value blank.
Why we treat the equipment operator rate as a proxy, not a paving-specific figure
Metro pay for every role we recruit is in the table below. We use the published data center site work rate - the closest documented comparable - and label it plainly as a proxy.
Why two concurrent data center campuses drive sustained, not spiking, demand
NorthPoint and AWS are both large-scale, multi-year buildouts running in the same market at once - a genuinely sustained driver behind the +8% premium.
What this means for sourcing
We source against verified equipment certifications and documented hyperscale-campus project history, not resume claims, given the specific scope named by the hub.
Realistic timelines
Standard paving and heavy equipment roles: 4-6 weeks intake to signed offer, consistent with the region's broader hiring timeline. First slate of vetted candidates within 48 hours regardless.
The paving and asphalt positions we fill, most often.
Across all Scranton-Wilkes-Barre paving and asphalt clients, these are the highest-volume roles we've recruited for in the last 24 months.
- Heavy equipment operator (data center site work)
- NorthPoint/AWS campus civil crew lead
- Paving foreman
- Plant manager
For the broader picture across every commercial trade in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, see the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre metro overview. To learn more about paving and asphalt generally (across all 100+ markets we serve), see our Paving & Asphalt industry page.
How we recruit paving & asphalt in Scranton, plainly.
Same approach we use in every market - but tuned for what works in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's paving and asphalt segment specifically:
- Same-day intake call. We get the role, the project context, the budget, your dealbreakers. For Scranton-Wilkes-Barre paving work, we also confirm whether the role sits within NorthPoint or AWS scope, or standard commercial work.
- Candidate sourcing within 48 hours. We pull from our existing Scranton-Wilkes-Barre paving and asphalt candidate network, filtered for verified equipment certifications and relevant project history.
- Vetted short list (week one to several weeks). Three to five candidates. We verify real licensing and equipment certifications rather than a line on a resume - timeline depends on the project scope involved.
- Offer and close. Standard roles close in 4-6 weeks. We help with offer math against Scranton-Wilkes-Barre documented general context.
How Scranton's paving and asphalt market compares
In 2023 the Scranton metro had 19 highway, street and bridge contractors (counted by business location), with about 502 people on their payrolls. Average pay at those firms was $54,029, 38.7% below the national average of $88,070 for the same kind of employer. Headcount grew 8.9% over the year, faster than the 3.5% national increase, so local employers were adding people quicker than most of the country. The number of these employers rose 26.7%, more firms competing for the same crews. That works out to 3.3 per 100,000 residents, close to the 3.6 national rate. These firms account for 5.2% of all construction employment in the metro.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 410 | $50,860 | 0.52 | 146 |
| Pittsburgh | 100 | $49,610 | 0.32 | 79 |
| Lancaster | 40 | $59,160 | 0.57 | 9 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem | 30 | $54,810 | 0.33 | 21 |
| Harrisburg | – | – | – | 10 |
| Scranton | – | – | – | 19 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:Local paving and asphalt employers in Scranton are adding headcount, which means more employers competing for the same people.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Scranton metro. Employers are counted by business location.
How Scranton's paving & asphalt market has changed since 2018.
The number of highway, street and bridge contractors in Scranton rose from 13 in 2018 to 19 in 2023, up 46%, ahead of the 6% national rise.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highway, street and bridge contractors: business locations | 13 | 19 | +46% |
| Highway, street and bridge contractors: employment | – | 502 | – |
| Highway, street and bridge contractors: average annual pay | – | $54,029 | – |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Frequently asked — paving & asphalt hiring in Scranton.
How large is the NorthPoint data center campus?
The metro's own data describes a 15-building campus proposed on roughly 1,280 acres in Hazle Township. The hub reports the dollar value as undisclosed.
What is driving paving demand in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre right now?
Two concurrent data center campuses - NorthPoint Development (Hazle Township) and AWS (Salem Township) - are the named drivers.
Which paving & asphalt roles pay the most in Scranton?
Of the roles we recruit for, Paving Foreman pays the most in Scranton, a $78,660 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Heavy Equipment Operator at $59,330, 25% below it. Construction Laborer is the lowest-paid field role at $48,290.
How many highway, street and bridge contractors operate in Scranton?
BLS counted 19 highway, street and bridge contractors in Scranton in 2023, employing about 502 people between them. Up from 13 in 2018, a 46% increase against 6% growth nationally. That averages 26 people per location. They pay an average of $54,029, 39% below the $88,070 national average for the same kind of employer.
Which nearby metros compete with Scranton for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Allentown-Bethlehem (56 miles, about 30, $54,810 median), New York (99 miles, about 3,440, $62,780 median) and Lancaster (100 miles, about 40, $59,160 median).
We have not closed a paving & asphalt search in Scranton yet. Here is what we have closed.
These are other trades in the same market. We would rather show you the searches we have actually run in Scranton than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- HVAC TechnicianA senior technician across commercial and industrial HVAC and refrigeration.
Hiring paving and asphalt talent in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre?
Tell us the role. We'll tell you wages, timeline, and where we'd source the candidate - in under 30 minutes.