Also called: Wage Determination Analyst, Davis-Bacon Wage Specialist
Surveys what electricians, carpenters and other workers are paid in each county to set the minimum wages required on government construction projects.
You sort thousands of payroll surveys from contractors, check odd numbers by phone, and calculate the going rate for, say, crane operators in a county in Iowa. Those numbers become the legal minimum on every federally funded bridge and school built there. Unions and contractors both watch your results closely.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in economics, statistics or business.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Economics, Statistics, Business Administration, Labor Studies.
Growing about average. Steady with government construction spending.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Survey processing and wage math are automating fast; checking odd data and handling disputes stay human.
Classes: AP Statistics, AP Macroeconomics, Business.
Official data: O*NET occupation 13-1141.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.