Official pay data
Updated 8 October 2026
Salary guide
Official annual estimates for the whole country, mapped to the closest published occupation.
United Kingdom · gross annual earnings estimate
25th percentile
£24,654
Median
£28,591
75th percentile
£34,378
This ASHE benchmark covers full-time employee jobs, not self-employed income or part-time jobs. ASHE gross earnings include basic pay, overtime, incentive pay such as bonuses and commissions, shift premiums, and other cash pay. They are before deductions, exclude payments in kind, and are not take-home pay or the whole benefits package. Compare the benchmark with an offer on the same working-hours and annual-pay basis.
This is a country-level occupation benchmark, not a local offer estimate. Pay can differ by location, employer, duties, and working pattern.
Source: ONS, 2025-04-30. Mapped to Elementary construction occupations n.e.c.; the occupation is broader than the page role. Figures are estimates, not advertised salaries.
This national benchmark is a useful comparison point for a construction labourer because it is assigned to the broader elementary construction occupation. Check the offer against the work itself: a labourer may support tradespeople, work on trenches or concrete, or carry out other site tasks. If the job mainly involves preparing sites, planting, lawn work or building landscape features, the [landscaping salary guide](/uk/salaries/landscaping) is a closer comparison. Those assignments are not interchangeable, so the benchmark is context rather than a price for any one job.
Benchmark fit
The benchmark is assigned to Elementary construction occupations n.e.c. for full-time employee jobs. It provides a national comparison for a construction labourer, but the title covers a broader occupational grouping than one particular labouring assignment.
Do not treat this broad occupation benchmark as the exact pay for every construction labourer. A role may involve a narrower mix of duties, such as material supply, excavation, concrete work or road work.
Role scope
A construction labourer carries out practical construction tasks and supports work on site. The work may range from supplying tradespeople with materials to excavation, formwork, reinforcement or concrete work.
Mark out and dig trenches for foundations and drainage. · Put up formwork panels to hold concrete while it sets, or fix steel bars for reinforcement. · Lay concrete for foundations, floors and beams. · Build or resurface roads, and lay kerbs or paving. · Use material-moving machinery where the job includes it, or keep tradespeople supplied with materials.
Prepared trenches for foundations and drainage. · Concrete work for foundations, floors or beams. · Materials kept available for tradespeople.
Construction sites.
This role can include a varied mix of practical tasks; none of the listed duties is stated as universal to every labouring job.
Formworker is a distinct occupation. A construction labourer may train towards it on the job where the employer supports that route.
Read the range
Use the benchmark alongside the actual assignment. An offer centred on supplying tradespeople with materials is not the same job description as one that includes trench work, formwork or concrete laying, even though each can sit within construction labouring.
One quarter of employees earn below this figure.
Half of employees earn below this figure and half above it; it is not the arithmetic midpoint of the displayed range.
One quarter of employees earn above this figure.
Location
Regional figures are available as supplementary comparisons for several UK regions.
| Region | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| East | Not published | £29,548 | Not published |
| East Midlands | Not published | £29,999 | Not published |
| London | Not published | £30,944 | Not published |
| North East | Not published | £30,886 | Not published |
| North West | Not published | £25,883 | Not published |
| Scotland | Not published | £27,984 | Not published |
| South East | Not published | £27,161 | Not published |
| South West | Not published | £27,865 | Not published |
| Wales | Not published | £28,633 | Not published |
| West Midlands | Not published | £30,369 | Not published |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | Not published | £26,421 | Not published |
Use the national benchmark as the main comparison. It is not a local offer estimate, and pay can differ by location, employer, duties and working pattern.
Beyond salary
Compare the offer's cash pay on the same hours and annual-pay basis as the benchmark. Separate fixed pay from overtime, bonuses, commissions, shift premiums and other conditional cash payments; then review benefits on their own terms.
Confirm the contracted hours and annual pay before comparing the offer with the benchmark.
Ask whether these payments are available, how they are calculated and whether the quoted offer includes them.
Check the conditions, timing and amount of any variable cash payment instead of treating it as fixed pay.
Ask for the terms of any pension, health cover, leave or other benefit separately, because non-cash benefits are not cash earnings.
Progression
A construction labourer may be able to train on the job towards the separate formworker occupation if the employer supports that route.
This is a move into a distinct occupation through workplace training, rather than an ordinary construction-labourer duty. Use the benchmark for the role offered; do not assume that a possible training route changes the pay comparison for a construction labourer.
Offer review
Questions
Source
Source: ONS, 2025-04-30. The figures cover Elementary construction occupations n.e.c. (9129) and full time employee jobs. Updated 8 October 2026. This broad occupation benchmark may not match every Labourer vacancy.
Put the benchmark to work
Use the salary range as context. Tailor your CV around the experience that supports your target level.
