General contractor vs government contractor

The differences between general contractors and government contractors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a general contractor and a government contractor. Additionally, a government contractor has an average salary of $76,972, which is higher than the $66,602 average annual salary of a general contractor.

The top three skills for a general contractor include plumbing, safety regulations and contract negotiations. The most important skills for a government contractor are cost accounting standards, financial statements, and security clearance.

General contractor vs government contractor overview

	General Contractor	Government Contractor
Yearly salary	$66,602	$76,972
Hourly rate	$32.02	$37.01
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	66,218	27,738
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

General contractor vs government contractor salary

General contractors and government contractors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	General Contractor	Government Contractor
Average salary	$66,602	$76,972
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $107,000	Between $49,000 And $118,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between general contractor and government contractor education

There are a few differences between a general contractor and a government contractor in terms of educational background:

	General Contractor	Government Contractor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

General contractor vs government contractor demographics

Here are the differences between general contractors' and government contractors' demographics:

	General Contractor	Government Contractor
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4%	Male, 54.6% Female, 45.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 2.8% White, 71.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 2.9% White, 70.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between general contractor and government contractor duties and responsibilities

General contractor example responsibilities.

Manage the repair/replacement of mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and structural of primarily historical residences.
Manage third party contractors including safety oversight, environmental design specification compliance, and similar construction specifications and requirements.
Perform electrical, mechanical (HVAC), plumbing, framing, roofing and finishing construction for residential and commercial buildings.
Remodel restaurants, which include painting, dry wall, tiling, plumbing, electrical and laying carpet.
Assist and perform all duties with installation of cabinets, flooring, sheetrock, framing, concrete, and basic plumbing.
Experience in roofing, painting, digging of footers, and tile setting.

Government contractor example responsibilities.

Lead data migration effort from an unsecure network to an IRS secure network.
Manage and process a conversion of manual time keeping of jobs to an electronic system within Deltek.
Manage all logistics of shipping sensitive information, software and laptops to destinations overseas.
Identify and lead multiple self-identify audit issues on application portfolio management, password security and separation of duties.
Assist with the Govenor and Lt.
State of Nevada, EPA, etc . )

General contractor vs government contractor skills

Common general contractor skills

Plumbing, 17%
Safety Regulations, 12%
Contract Negotiations, 11%
Drywall Installation, 7%
Construction Projects, 4%
Payroll, 4%

Common government contractor skills

Cost Accounting Standards, 11%
Financial Statements, 9%
Security Clearance, 6%
Logistics, 6%
Payroll, 5%
DOD, 4%

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General Contractor vs Government Contractor

Updated January 8, 2025

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