Houston vs. Phoenix
Construction Laborers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 47-2061
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Phoenix's median is 13.4% higher — but after local prices, Phoenix still leads by 8.3%.
Houston's median $41,350 buys $41,900 at national prices (price parity 98.6); Phoenix's $46,910 buys $45,400 (103.3).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Phoenix against Houston.
| Houston | Phoenix | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 34,080 | 29,230 | −14.2% |
| 10th percentile | $34,880 | $36,770 | +5.4% |
| 25th percentile | $37,070 | $41,160 | +11.0% |
| Median | $41,350 | $46,910 | +13.4% |
| 75th percentile | $47,590 | $51,800 | +8.8% |
| 90th percentile | $58,310 | $62,250 | +6.8% |
Sources
How this page was made
- Wage data
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
- Price parity
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- Full pages
- Construction Laborers in Houston · Construction Laborers in Phoenix
Percentiles are reported exactly as released. Derived (price-adjusted) figures round to the nearest hundred. We take no payment for how any figure is presented.