What Construction Laborers earn in Yolo County, CA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $60,560: the median annual pay for Construction Laborers in Yolo County, CA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $29.12 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $64,070, which is 5.8% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,390 people working in this occupation across the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Yolo County, CA has roughly 220,564 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Construction Laborers in the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $40,240 a year ($19.35 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $91,530 or more ($44.00 an hour). That is a gap of $51,290 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $48,140 at the 25th percentile and $76,000 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.3 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $29.12 an hour or $60,560 a year at the median for Yolo County, CA. Before any deductions, that is $5,047 a month, $2,329 every two weeks and $1,165 each week. After taxes the same job pays $23.59 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Construction Laborers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Construction Laborers this way: "Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Clean or prepare construction sites to eliminate possible hazards"; "Read plans, instructions, or specifications to determine work activities"; "Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials"; "Dig ditches or trenches, backfill excavations, or compact and level earth to grade specifications, using picks, shovels, pneumatic tampers, or rakes".
Job outlook for Construction Laborers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,489,300 jobs in 2025 to 1,598,600 in 2035, a change of +7.3%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 120,000 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 8.1% of current employment each year. About 26.9% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $47,120 for this occupation; the Yolo County, CA median of $60,560 is 28.5% above it.
How pay in Yolo County, CA compares
Compared with the California average
Pay for Construction Laborers in Yolo County, CA is in line with the statewide figure: $60,560 locally against an employment-weighted California average of $61,023, a difference of only $463 (0.8%). Within California, the highest median we track for this job is $72,610 in Alameda County, CA.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Construction Laborers is $49,249 across the contiguous United States. At $60,560, Yolo County, CA pays $11,311 more, which is 23.0% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Yolo County, CA
Among the 573 occupations with published wages in Yolo County, CA, Construction Laborers ranks number 347 by median pay, ahead of about 40% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Lawyers at $178,540 a year, which is $117,980 more than the median for Construction Laborers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Construction Laborers earning the Yolo County, CA median of $60,560, they add up to $11,501. The result is $49,059 of take-home pay a year ($4,088 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $44,810. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $5,139, an effective 8.5% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $3,755 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $878. FICA totals $4,633, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in California
California income tax on this salary is $1,730 a year, or 2.9% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 34% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $144 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Yolo County, CA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Yolo County, CA show an average adjusted gross income of $99,237 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.9% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.2%, compared with the 8.5% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Yolo County, CA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Yolo County, CA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $49,059 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Yolo County, CA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,670 a month ($20,040 a year), and at $2,135 for two bedrooms. For Construction Laborers, a one-bedroom absorbs 40.9% of take-home pay and 33.1% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 5.7% of gross pay for Construction Laborers in Yolo County, CA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using California residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,378 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $751, for $4,129 in total. Gasoline in California averages $4.42 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $2,047.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $29,651 a year in Yolo County, CA. Subtract that from $49,059 of take-home pay and $19,407 remains, which is $1,617 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 32.0% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Yolo County, CA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Yolo County, CA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Yolo County, CA, set beside the California and national medians.
Property taxes in Yolo County, CA
Homeowners in Yolo County, CA pay a median of $4,749 a year in real estate taxes, 7% below the California median of $5,124 and 52% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $620,700, the median tax bill is 0.77% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Construction Laborers median of $60,560, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Yolo County, CA
Renters in Yolo County, CA pay a median gross rent of $1,857 a month in the Census survey, 9% below the California median of $2,036. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,670 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $620,700, 16% below the California median of $734,700. Median household income is $91,752, 7% below the California median of $99,122, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.8% of that income.
Commuting in Yolo County, CA
Workers in Yolo County, CA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 24.0 minutes each way, 16% below the California average of 28.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 18.1% of workers in Yolo County, CA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Construction Laborers afford to live in Yolo County, CA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $60,560 that ceiling is $1,514 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,670 is $156 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $32.12 an hour; the median for Construction Laborers is $29.12, which is 9% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $23.59 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 16.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,135 a month means $1,068 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,230 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $26,637.
How fast you can save
At $1,617 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 7 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 14 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Construction Laborers pay in Yolo County, CA
How much do Construction Laborers make per hour in Yolo County, CA?
The median is $29.12 per hour, based on $60,560 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.35 at the 10th percentile to $44.00 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Construction Laborers take home after taxes in Yolo County, CA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $60,560 becomes $49,059 a year. That is $4,088 a month, $1,887 every two weeks or $943 a week.
How much tax do Construction Laborers pay in Yolo County, CA?
Total taxes are $11,501 a year, an effective rate of 19.0%: $5,139 federal income tax, $4,633 FICA and $1,730 California income tax.
Do Construction Laborers earn more in Yolo County, CA than elsewhere in California?
It is about the same. The local median of $60,560 is within 0.8% of the California average of $61,023.
Can Construction Laborers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Yolo County, CA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,670 a month against take-home pay of $4,088, which is 40.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,514 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Construction Laborers in Yolo County, CA?
About $1,617 a month ($19,407 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $29,651 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Yolo County, CA at the 30% guideline?
$32.12 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $20,040 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Construction Laborers is $29.12.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the California rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.