Labor Market Report · June 2026 edition
The State of US Field-Service Labor.
~4.2 million US workers across 7core field-service trades. We pair the workforce size — national employment straight from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — with the market-rate bands STEADYWRK's dispatch engine actually prices against. The rates are our BLS-informed model, shown transparently; nobody else publishes the numbers they quote on.
| Trade | Median rate /hr | P25–P75 band | US employed (BLS) | BLS code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricians | ~$31.00 | $23.00–$41.00 | 739,200 | 47-2111 |
| Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters | ~$30.00 | $23.00–$39.00 | 489,600 | 47-2152 |
| HVAC Mechanics & Installers | ~$29.00 | $22.00–$37.00 | 394,100 | 49-9021 |
| Carpenters | ~$27.00 | $20.00–$34.00 | 742,800 | 47-2031 |
| Roofers | ~$24.00 | $18.00–$30.00 | 158,700 | 47-2181 |
| Painters, Construction & Maintenance | ~$23.00 | $18.00–$28.00 | 207,400 | 47-2141 |
| General Maintenance & Repair Workers | ~$22.00 | $17.00–$28.00 | 1,466,700 | 49-9071 |
Employment: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), May 2024 — national totals. Rate bands: STEADYWRK market-rate model, rounded and informed by BLS OES percentile wage data — estimates, not cent-precise BLS quotes. Standard (routine) urgency. Market rates shown are derived from BLS OES national wage data. Actual rates vary by employer, experience, and local market conditions.
What the market shows
The skilled trades cluster at the top: Electricians lead at about $31.00/hr, while General Maintenance & Repair Workers sit near $22.00 — roughly a 41% spread between the highest- and lowest-rate trades in this set.
The percentile band matters more than the midpoint for pricing. Electricians show the widest spread ($23.00–$41.00), a $18.00/hr gap that reflects experience and specialization. A quote built on the median alone misprices the tails — which is why dispatch pricing has to read trade and urgency and percentile, not a flat rate.
Volume concentrates in generalists: general maintenance and repair is the single largest occupation here (1,466,700 workers, per BLS), underscoring that most facility work is routine — and most addressable by structured, fast-quoted dispatch rather than bespoke bids.
Methodology & honesty note
Employment figures are national occupation totals from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) (May 2024 release) — public BLS data, cited as-is. The hourly rate bands are STEADYWRK's market-rate model: rounded estimates informed by BLS OES percentile wage data and used by the dispatch engine for quoting. We round and publish them transparently rather than quote BLS to the cent, because they are operating assumptions, not a reproduction of the BLS wage tables. Verify the underlying public wage data at the BLS OES source.
STEADYWRK prices field-service dispatch against these bands in real time — by trade, urgency, and percentile, not a flat rate.