What is a Home Improvement Contractor?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a home improvement contractor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.11 an hour? That's $50,140 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 85,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Home Improvement Contractor Do
There are certain skills that many home improvement contractors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, dexterity and troubleshooting skills.
How To Become a Home Improvement Contractor
If you're interested in becoming a home improvement contractor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 33.3% of home improvement contractors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.6% of home improvement contractors have master's degrees. Even though some home improvement contractors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Home Improvement Contractor Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a home improvement contractor can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as maintenance technician, progress to a title such as foreman and then eventually end up with the title project superintendent.
Average Salary for a Home Improvement Contractor
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Home Improvement Contractor
There are several types of home improvement contractor, including:
General Foreman
Role:
General Foreman is also known or referred to as a construction supervisor or superintendent. As a general Foreman, you are to supervise construction sites and be in charge of the management of staff and building schedules. You have to ensure that every operation on a construction site is running smoothly. Typically, you are in charge of conducting inspections regularly. The coordination with engineers and architects is also a part of your duties.
In addition, you are to manage expenditure and budget while still supervising workers. You must also ensure that projects are done according to the desired time frame. Furthermore, you are to ensure that workers implement all safety policies and regulations to have a safe and productive workspace for everyone.
Usually, to be a general foreman, you don't need a college education to qualify for this role. However, you should possess at least a high school diploma or GED. A general foreman makes an average salary of $64,025 per year.
- Average Salary: $48,517
- Degree: High School Diploma
Electrical Foreman
Role:
An electrical foreman is a supervisory electrician who is tasked with overseeing the planning and execution of large electrical projects. He/She supervises power linemen and electricians in installing, repairing, and maintaining electrical power lines or systems. He/She conducts regular inspections of the construction site to ensure materials and supplies are available. Besides that, he/she enforces safety regulations and working conditions among the employees to avoid hazards. Furthermore, he/she oversees customer relations, material management, and quality control.
To become an electrical foreman, you need a high school diploma or its equivalent. You must have completed an apprenticeship program and be familiar with local electrical codes. Additionally, you may undergo on-the-job training. Four to seven years of work experience and a license in an area of expertise are also required. Relevant skills are maths, analytical, and communication skills. An electrical foreman's salary ranges from $52,000 to $105,000, with an average of $73,809 yearly.
- Average Salary: $50,996
- Degree: High School Diploma
Crew Foreman
Role:
The main duties and responsibilities of a crew foreman focus on project management and doing what is necessary to complete a work. They recruit, educate, track, and review staff. They also monitor daily attendance and address issues if needed. A role of a crew foreman often means constant contact with building managers who supervise the whole project.
A crew foreman is also responsible for taking care of the progress reports, estimating the timelines of the projects, and updating the budget. The role can also handle staffing problems such as overtime and leave applications in compliance with labor unions. A crew foreman must be able to handle ongoing communication with construction managers. They usually share information with the clients and contractors.
This role requires a crew foreman to have skills, usually through on-the-job training. According to the Office of Labor Statistics, foremen normally have five years or more of trading experience before stepping into the role of crew foreman. The average salary for this ranges from less than $42,730 to $106,900, depending on the industry and years of experience in the field.
- Average Salary: $51,929
- Degree: High School Diploma
States With The Most Home Improvement Contractor Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active home improvement contractor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where home improvement contractors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Home Improvement Contractor Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,944 | $61,022 |
| 2 | Illinois | 1,784 | $62,615 |
| 3 | Florida | 1,696 | $58,728 |
| 4 | Texas | 1,655 | $42,259 |
| 5 | Ohio | 1,299 | $58,146 |
| 6 | New York | 1,251 | $81,116 |
| 7 | Michigan | 1,145 | $57,395 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 1,083 | $49,320 |
| 9 | Georgia | 1,013 | $62,160 |
| 10 | Missouri | 991 | $60,495 |
| 11 | Virginia | 984 | $60,673 |
| 12 | Minnesota | 978 | $58,380 |
| 13 | New Jersey | 976 | $59,483 |
| 14 | Indiana | 947 | $55,371 |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | 931 | $61,827 |
| 16 | Iowa | 831 | $43,810 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 824 | $48,605 |
| 18 | Massachusetts | 763 | $74,513 |
| 19 | Kentucky | 654 | $60,215 |
| 20 | Alabama | 619 | $50,811 |
| 21 | Washington | 546 | $56,486 |
| 22 | Kansas | 524 | $48,976 |
| 23 | South Carolina | 492 | $47,356 |
| 24 | Arizona | 489 | $51,358 |
| 25 | West Virginia | 486 | $57,332 |
| 26 | Maryland | 473 | $62,138 |
| 27 | Oklahoma | 461 | $49,774 |
| 28 | Nebraska | 446 | $49,119 |
| 29 | Oregon | 399 | $52,721 |
| 30 | Wisconsin | 381 | $57,550 |
| 31 | Montana | 336 | $44,932 |
| 32 | Maine | 328 | $49,700 |
| 33 | New Mexico | 324 | $45,336 |
| 34 | Connecticut | 301 | $75,920 |
| 35 | North Dakota | 283 | $58,511 |
| 36 | Mississippi | 276 | $41,240 |
| 37 | South Dakota | 259 | $49,842 |
| 38 | Colorado | 248 | $52,093 |
| 39 | Idaho | 248 | $36,112 |
| 40 | Arkansas | 172 | $41,913 |
| 41 | Nevada | 140 | $46,727 |
| 42 | Louisiana | 123 | $60,982 |
| 43 | Wyoming | 117 | $45,940 |
| 44 | Delaware | 100 | $56,407 |
| 45 | New Hampshire | 83 | $69,921 |
| 46 | Utah | 75 | $43,372 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 70 | $64,223 |
| 48 | Alaska | 62 | $56,949 |
| 49 | Vermont | 47 | $52,530 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 33 | $49,052 |
Top Skills For a Home Improvement Contractor
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 34.0% of home improvement contractors listed strong customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and dexterity are important as well.
Home Improvement Contractor diversity
Home Improvement Contractor Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among home improvement contractors, 20.6% of them are women, while 79.4% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among home improvement contractors is White, which makes up 68.3% of all home improvement contractors.
- The most common foreign language among home improvement contractors is Spanish at 68.6%.
Online Courses For Home Improvement Contractor That You May Like
1. Process Improvement
In this course you will focus on process improvement. You will learn how to set organizational priorities for continuous process improvement, how to execute process improvement projects, and how to sustain the initiative for continuous improvements. You will be able to: • Relate underlying principles to frameworks and techniques used for process improvement • Synthesize information to make decisions for organizational initiatives and process improvement • Apply analytical techniques for...
2. Data-Driven Process Improvement
By the end of this course, learners are empowered to implement data-driven process improvement objectives at their organization. The course covers: the business case for IoT (Internet of Things), the strategic importance of aligning operations and performance goals, best practices for collecting data, and facilitating a process mapping activity to visualize and analyze a process’s flow of materials and information. Learners are prepared to focus efforts around business needs, evaluate what the...
3. New Home Construction - 1 of 8
Planning For The Build...
Best States For a Home Improvement Contractor
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a home improvement contractor. The best states for people in this position are New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Home improvement contractors make the most in New York with an average salary of $81,116. Whereas in Connecticut and Massachusetts, they would average $75,920 and $74,513, respectively. While home improvement contractors would only make an average of $69,921 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$81,116
Avg. Salary
2. Connecticut
$75,920
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$74,513
Avg. Salary
How Do Home Improvement Contractors Rate Their Jobs?
Top Home Improvement Contractor Employers
Most Common Employers For Home Improvement Contractor
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homes.com | $94,523 | $45.44 | 6 |
| 2 | Outside In | $70,104 | $33.70 | 3 |
| 3 | Independent Contractor | $66,120 | $31.79 | 7 |
| 4 | The Roofing Company | $63,936 | $30.74 | 4 |
| 5 | USBestRepairs | $62,312 | $29.96 | 2 |
| 6 | micahtek | $54,097 | $26.01 | 15 |
| 7 | Handyman Connection | $50,119 | $24.10 | 7 |
| 8 | *n/a* | $50,030 | $24.05 | 4 |
| 9 | The Sole Proprietor | $49,982 | $24.03 | 2 |
| 10 | Quality Homes | $48,264 | $23.20 | 2 |
Home Improvement Contractor Videos
