What You Need to Know About Construction Manager
Position Description Plan, direct, or coordinate, usually through subordinate supervisory personnel, activities concerned with the construction and maintenance of structures, facilities, and systems. Participate in the conceptual development of a construction project and oversee its organization, scheduling, budgeting, and implementation. Includes managers in specialized construction fields, such as carpentry or plumbing.
Construction Manager Responsibilities
- Secure third-party verification from sources such as Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED) to ensure responsible design and building activities or to achieve favorable LEED ratings for building projects.
- Develop or implement quality control programs.
- Implement training programs on environmentally responsible building topics to update employee skills and knowledge.
- Direct acquisition of land for construction projects.
- Perform, or contract others to perform, pre-building assessments, such as conceptual cost estimating, rough order of magnitude estimating, feasibility, or energy efficiency, environmental, and sustainability assessments.
- Develop construction budgets to compare green and non-green construction alternatives, in terms of short-term costs, long-term costs, or environmental impacts.
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Construction Manager Needed Skills
When polled, Construction Managers say the following skills are most frequently used in their jobs:
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
Time Management: Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Related Job Titles
- Constructor
- Land Developer
- Construction Foreman
- Building Construction Contractor
- Vice President of Operations
Is There Job Demand for Construction Managers?
In 2016, there was an estimated number of 403,800 jobs in the United States for Construction Manager. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 11.1% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 44,800 new jobs for Construction Manager by 2026. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 33,200 job openings in this field each year.

The states with the most job growth for Construction Manager are Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. Watch out if you plan on working in Maine, Alaska, or Mississippi. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Salary for a Construction Manager
The typical yearly salary for Construction Managers is somewhere between $55,240 and $161,510.

Construction Managers who work in New Jersey, Delaware, or New York, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Construction Managers in different U.S. states.
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $96,500 |
Alaska | $115,580 |
Arizona | $92,520 |
Arkansas | $78,250 |
California | $117,770 |
Colorado | $97,170 |
Connecticut | $112,570 |
Delaware | $124,000 |
District of Columbia | $103,310 |
Florida | $94,150 |
Georgia | $105,330 |
Hawaii | $109,850 |
Idaho | $78,880 |
Illinois | $95,020 |
Indiana | $86,210 |
Iowa | $84,710 |
Kansas | $87,270 |
Kentucky | $89,990 |
Louisiana | $99,610 |
Maine | $84,410 |
Maryland | $106,050 |
Massachusetts | $109,130 |
Michigan | $101,810 |
Minnesota | $93,230 |
Mississippi | $79,380 |
Missouri | $96,680 |
Montana | $96,000 |
Nebraska | $93,080 |
Nevada | $94,350 |
New Hampshire | $91,490 |
New Jersey | $145,400 |
New Mexico | $89,410 |
New York | $131,950 |
North Carolina | $109,520 |
North Dakota | $109,640 |
Ohio | $103,700 |
Oklahoma | $85,950 |
Oregon | $98,110 |
Pennsylvania | $106,270 |
Rhode Island | $132,750 |
South Carolina | $100,030 |
South Dakota | $95,820 |
Tennessee | $82,870 |
Texas | $98,420 |
Utah | $83,990 |
Vermont | $92,730 |
Virginia | $109,980 |
Washington | $100,180 |
West Virginia | $113,320 |
Wisconsin | $113,270 |
Wyoming | $96,050 |
What Tools do Construction Managers Use?
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Construction Managers:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Access
- Data entry software
- Email software
- SAP
- Microsoft Project
- Autodesk AutoCAD
- Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat
- Microsoft Visio
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Database software
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
- Scheduling software
- Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
- Microsoft Internet Explorer
Becoming a Construction Manager
What kind of Construction Manager requirements are there?

How Long Does it Take to Become a Construction Manager?

Where do Construction Managers Work?

The table below shows the approximate number of Construction Managers employed by various industries.

Other Jobs You May be Interested In
Are you already one of the many Construction Manager in the United States? If you’re thinking about changing careers, these fields are worth exploring:
References:
Image Credit: Mike Moore via public domain
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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