WHY LOS ANGELES SHOULD PAY A
RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION MINIMUM WAGE NOW!
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Residential construction workers in Los Angeles are often overworked, underpaid, and unprotected.
JoSUE and evaristo SHARED THEIR STORIES.
JOSUE'S STORY
EVARISTO'S STORY
L.A. RESIDENTIAL Construction Workers ARE Paid Poverty Wages
The median full-time construction worker in the city of LA makes just $18 per hour.
Analysis of 2023 ACS 5-Year file, IPUMS USA, filtering for full-time workers (>50 weeks, <35 hours/week).
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3 IN 4
OVER 70%
residential construction workers risk being evicted if they missed just one paycheck.
of Los Angeles construction worker families are considered "low-income" and nearly half are "very-low-income."
To read more about our survey, click here.
Analysis of 2023 ACS 5-Year file, IPUMS-USA, excluding families without county of residence identified.
The median Los Angeles construction worker makes
Compared to the rest of the construction industry, workers on residential projects suffer higher rates of wage theft, receive fewer benefits, and are injured twice as much. Nonresidential construction workers earn
$35,400
per year when adjusted for the cost of living of the surrounding
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area. This is the second-lowest rate in the country.
30%
more and receive fringe benefits valued at three times as much.
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table S2411: Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months (in 2023 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars) by Occupation, Construction and Extraction Occs by MSA https://data.census.gov
a RESIDENTIAL construction minimum wage could solve the worker shortage
Who will build the housing to solve L.A.'s housing crisis?
Today L.A. doesn't have the residential construction workforce to solve our housing crisis.
A residential construction worker minimum wage could recruit and retain a LOCAL WORKFORCE to build our own communities and provide certainty for employers.
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The L.A. residential construction worker shortage has been made even worse by the recent Altadena & Pacific Palisades fires. L.A. will need even more workers to build in advance of the
2026
8,700
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50,000
It will take roughly
new housing units in 2024, while the city lost
Los Angeles only permitted
residential construction workers just to rebuild from the recent L.A. fires.
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5% - 7%.
Building a new apartment building with 50+ units can reduce rent costs of surrounding blocks by
residential housing units in the recent Palisades Fire.
WORLD CUP & 2028 OLYMPICS.
6,029
THIRD TO LAST
The Los Angeles metropolitan area ranked
in new housing units per capita among the 50 biggest metropolitan areas in 2024.
A report by the State of California found that failures in the permitting process play a main role in the housing crisis.
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TWICE THE RATE
In 2024, San Diego reached 56% of its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) target through issued permits — more than
of Los Angeles, which reached just 24%.
Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, 2024 Annual Permits by CBSA,
Raising RESIDENTIAL worker wages won't increase housing costs
Out of every dollar spent on building housing in Los Angeles:
*for LIHTC projects
40%
to materials
and markups
25%
to developer fees, bank fees, and developer profits
21%
to permitting, land acquisition, architects, and other sources
14%
to paying workers
Source: Littlehale, S. (2020, October). Low Income Housing Tax Credits: Assessing the Costs, Impacts and Policy Implications of Tax Subsidies for Affordable Housing. Smart Cities Prevail
Other states pay their construction workers MORE, but pay LESS for construction.
Los Angeles as it does in Texas.
2.5x
It costs as much to build market rate housing in
Colorado residential construction workers make
more money than Los Angeles residential construction workers.
25%
Yet residential construction workers in Texas get paid MORE THAN construction workers in Los Angeles.
Yet in Colorado, it costs less than HALF AS MUCH per unit to build low-income housing as it does in California.
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table S2411: Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months (in 2023 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars) by Occupation, Construction and Extraction Occs by state https://data.census.gov
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table S2411: Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months (in 2023 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars) by Occupation, Construction and Extraction Occs by state https://data.census.gov
and
29x
Permitting in California costs
2.4x
more than permitting in Colorado
more than permitting in Texas.
In 2024, rents in Austin and Denver declined the most of any cities in the U.S, showing HIGHER WORKER WAGES and lower permit costs can lead to MORE HOUSING AND LOWER RENT.
When construction workers are underpaid, taxpayers pick up the tab
1 in 6
construction workers are paid under the table or misclassified,
costing California over
per year in lost taxes.
$1 BILLION
Setting a clear minimum wage for the industry would change that.
NEARLY HALF
California taxpayers pay per year to subsidize these construction workers being underpaid.
$3 BILLION
of California construction workers are on public assistance programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
An increased residential construction worker minimum wage and increased enforcement of wage theft laws through a private right of action would lead to:
Increased economic activity locally
due to workers being able to afford living in L.A., increasing sales tax revenue in the City of L.A.
Increased payroll tax revenue
due to workers being classified and paid legally
Increased property tax revenue
due to workers being able to afford living in L.A., increasing sales tax revenue in the City of L.A.
Increased property tax revenue
due to more construction being completed faster