General Contractor

You do not swing every hammer. You price the job, hire the trades, hold the schedule, and carry the risk.

Typical pay: $114,990a year
Time to qualify: 4 to 8 yearsafter high school
Demand: Very high
License needed: Dependsneeded in 36 states

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Quick answers

How much does a general contractor make in the United States?

The median pay is about $114,990 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $69,690 at the lower end to about $189,440 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.

How long does it take to become a general contractor in the United States?

4 to 8 years after high school, on the usual route.

What does it cost to become a general contractor?

$800 to $50,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a license to work as a general contractor in the United States?

It depends where you work. You need a license, certificate or registration in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Elsewhere there is none to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.

What is the job outlook for a general contractor in the United States?

Very high demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.

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General Contractor salary in the United States

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What contractors and construction managers make

Median

$114,990

Bottom tenth

$69,690

Top tenth

$189,440

The national median is $114,990 a year, the bottom tenth earn $69,690 or less and the top tenth $189,440 or more, in the 2025 survey. The federal wage survey counts this as construction managers, which means salaried people running projects for a company. A self-employed contractor running their own jobs is mostly outside that figure and takes whatever the business makes, which can be far more or far less.

Coming in from the office side

$69,690 to $88,550

The bottom tenth and bottom quarter of construction managers, 2025

Assistant project managers and field engineers straight out of a construction management degree usually start toward this end. Commercial construction firms hire graduates directly.

The top quarter

$151,640 or more

What the best paid quarter of construction managers earned in 2025, mostly senior project managers on large commercial work

Owning the company is different: your income is whatever the business makes, and a bad year can wipe out several good ones.

What it costs to get there

Route one: an apprenticeship in a trade: No cost or close to it, and you are paid from week one
Route two: a construction management degree: Roughly $11,000 a year in tuition and fees at an in-state public university
License application and exams: A few hundred dollars where your state licenses contractors, more with a prep course
Bond and insurance to actually operate: A surety bond set by your state, plus general liability and workers' compensation insurance. This is the real cost of going out on your own.

Roughly, all in

$800 to $50,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

The trade route costs almost nothing because an apprenticeship pays you from week one, so the low end is just the state license application and exam fees, in states that have them. The high end is a four year construction management degree at an in state public university, about $45,000, plus a license prep course and the first year of a surety bond and liability insurance. The bond and the insurance are the real cost of going out on your own, and they are yearly, not once. File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) if you take the degree route, and start at a community college if money is tight.

The trade route costs almost nothing because it pays you. The degree route costs about $45,000 in-state before grants, so file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and start at a community college if money is tight.

How contractors get paid

Fixed price
You quote a number for the whole job. Estimate well and you keep the difference. Estimate badly and you eat it.
Cost plus a fee
The client pays the real costs plus an agreed percentage or fee. Lower risk, lower upside.
Progress payments
Money arrives in stages as work is completed and inspected, which is why cash flow kills more contractors than bad building does.
Change orders
Extra work agreed in writing during the job. Get it in writing or you built it at no charge.
Salary and bonus
If you work for a construction firm instead of yourself, you get a salary plus a bonus tied to how the project finished.

How to become a general contractor in the United States

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming a general contractor, step by step

Two honest routes in. One starts with tools, the other with a degree, and they meet in the same site trailer.

1
Finish high school
Grade 12
Math, shop, drafting and English. Start working summers for a builder if you can, because time on site is what everything else is measured against.
2
Pick a route
2 to 4 years
Either a registered apprenticeship in carpentry or another trade, listed on apprenticeship.gov, the United States Department of Labor site, or a four-year construction management degree.
3
Get experience on real jobs
4 years, often while being paid
Many states will not license you without documented years of construction experience. California, for example, wants four years at the journey level or above before you can even sit the exam.
4
Pass the license exams, where your state sets them
Months of study
Typically two: a law and business exam and a trade exam. Several states accept the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies accredited exam, so one test can cover you in more than one state.
5
Get bonded, insured and licensed
Weeks
Post the surety bond your state requires, buy liability and workers' compensation insurance, and the license is yours.

High school courses that help you become a general contractor

Math
Estimating is measuring, multiplying and not making mistakes. A small error on a big job can be your whole profit.
Drafting or computer-aided design
You read drawings all day and you will be expected to mark them up.
Shop and construction technology
You cannot run trades you do not understand. They will know immediately.
Business and accounting
Cash flow, invoicing and payroll are what actually sink contractors.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 4 to 8 depending on your route and your state
Degree required: No, but the office and commercial side usually wants one
Total out of pocket: Close to nothing on the trade route, about $45,000 in-state for the degree
Paid while training?: Yes on the trade route, and through paid internships on the degree route

Licensing is state by state, and it has teeth

There is no national contractor license. 35 states and DC (the District of Columbia) license or register general contractors, often only above a dollar amount or for home building. California wants four years of experience and two exams. Texas, New York, Ohio, Colorado and the other states leave it to cities and counties. Where a license is needed, working without one is often a crime.

Where people learn it

A registered apprenticeship in a trade
Carpentry is the most common route to general contracting, but electricians, plumbers and masons all make the jump.
Construction management degrees
The American Council for Construction Education accredits construction management programs at colleges and universities and lists them in a public directory.
Community college
Two-year construction technology and management degrees, and they transfer into the four-year programs.
Working for a builder
Laborer, then carpenter, then lead, then superintendent. It is slower and it teaches you things a classroom cannot.

What helps you get ahead as a general contractor

Things you don't need, but that help.

Credentials that open bigger jobs

Specialty classifications
Adding classifications to your license lets you bid work outside general building, such as swimming pools, solar or earthwork.
Safety certifications
The 10-hour and 30-hour construction courses from OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) are required on many commercial sites.
Estimating software
Learning a takeoff and bidding package properly makes you valuable before you are experienced.
Building information modeling
Three-dimensional coordination of structure, piping and ductwork. Standard on large commercial work and still a scarce skill.
Green building credentials
Energy efficiency and sustainable construction certifications win public contracts that require them.

Nice-to-haves

Spanish
A large share of American construction crews speak it. Being able to talk to your own trades directly matters every day.
A reputation with subcontractors
Good trades choose who they work for. Pay on time and they will squeeze your job in ahead of someone else's.
Knowing lien law in your state
How and when you can secure payment. Learn it before you need it.
A relationship with a bank and a bonding agent
You cannot bid public work without bonding, and bonding takes a financial track record.

Going out on your own

Getting the license is the easy half. Running the business is the half that fails: you front money for materials and labor, then wait 30 or 60 days to be paid, and one client who does not pay can take the company down. Set up a limited liability company or a corporation so your house is not on the line, carry proper general liability and workers' compensation insurance, keep six months of costs in the bank, and never start work without a signed contract and a deposit. Many contractors who make it ran other people's jobs for years first.

What being a general contractor is really like

Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.

What a general contractor does day to day

On site by 6:30am to walk the job before the crews arrive and see what actually got done yesterday. Hand out the day's work, sort out the plumber who cannot start because the framing is late, and take a call from the owner asking about a change. Late morning is the inspector. Afternoon is the trailer: pricing the next job, chasing material deliveries, approving invoices, arguing over a change order, updating the schedule. Evening is estimating, because that is the only quiet time. Rain, a failed inspection or one missing delivery rearranges all of it.

The honest pros and cons of being a general contractor

The good

Strong pay without a graduate degree
You can reach it from a paid apprenticeship with no debt
Something real stands there at the end of every job
A clear route to owning a business

The hard parts

You carry the risk: bad weather, bad bids and unpaid invoices are all yours
Long days that start before dawn and end with paperwork
Construction is cyclical, and a downturn empties the order book fast
Everyone on the job blames you when anything goes wrong

Work life

Typical hours: 50 to 60 a week, more near a deadline
Remote work: Some estimating and scheduling from home, but the job is on site
Physical demand: Moderate: walking sites, climbing, standing, not usually heavy labor
Unionized: Usually not as a manager or owner, though your trades often are

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being a general contractor

Things people don't tell you.

California alone licenses 285,000 contractors

The state's Contractors State License Board oversees about 285,000 licensees across 45 different classifications, from general building to swimming pools to solar. It has its own enforcement staff who run undercover stings on unlicensed work.

Construction management has its own accreditor

The American Council for Construction Education sets the standard for construction management degrees and lists the accredited programs in a public directory. Check that a program is on it before you enroll, and remember the trade route is still wide open.

Contractors can put a lien on your house

Every state has mechanics lien law: if a builder or a subcontractor is not paid, they can file a claim against the property itself, and the owner cannot sell or refinance until it is cleared. It is the oldest protection in the trade and the deadlines are unforgiving.

Most construction companies are tiny

The industry is full of firms with fewer than ten employees, often one licensed contractor plus a small crew hiring subcontractors for everything else. That is why going out on your own is realistic here in a way it is not in most fields.

How a general contractor compares

Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.

More skilled trades careers in the US

Construction first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.

Where these numbers come from

Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.