The Bureau of Labor Statistics released June 2026 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation on September 9. For private construction, total employer costs averaged $51.96 per hour worked: $36.13 in wages and salaries and $15.84 in benefits. These are employer costs, not take-home wages for an individual worker. Across all private industry, compensation averaged $46.89 per hour, including $32.82 in wages and salaries and $14.07 in benefits. Private construction's average was higher, but occupations, employers and locations vary within each category. In a different comparison, BLS Table 5 puts average costs for union workers across the broad goods-producing group at $69.18 an hour, versus $47.28 for nonunion workers, a $21.90 difference. Goods-producing covers manufacturing, construction and other industries; it is not a construction-only figure. The union group averaged $40.20 in wages and $28.98 in benefits, compared with $33.06 and $14.22 for the nonunion group. Retirement and savings costs averaged $6.55 for the union group and $1.24 for the nonunion group. These are national, non-seasonally-adjusted group averages per hour worked. They do not control for trade, experience, location, hours or employer mix, and they cannot establish how much an individual would earn by joining a union. To compare a local apprenticeship or job offer, check its actual wage scale and benefit contributions.