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Pay · 13-1051

Cost Estimators earn $78,740 a year at the midpoint

The middle of the pay scale for cost estimators is $78,740. A typical start is nearer $61,150; the top tenth earn about $130,820.

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$78,740median a year · United States
$37.86an hour $85,390average 224,220people
Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.
$61,15025th $78,740median $101,85075th
$48,53010th percentile $130,82090th percentile
$61,150a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job
$100,840best-paying state · Massachusetts
$61,470lowest-paying state · Arkansas
+28%top state against the national median
  • Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
  • What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
  • Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
  • Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”

State matters a lotThe same job pays $100,840 in Massachusetts and $61,470 in Arkansas — a gap of $39,370 a year.

Cost estimator earnings, from starting pay to the top 10%

Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.

Experience
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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →

Examples

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Cost estimator pay rate, hourly to yearly

Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.

$78,749a year

A resume for cost estimators

Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.

Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio ManagementAutodesk RevitProcore softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft ExcelCost estimating softwareAutodesk AutoCAD
  • Analyzed blueprints and other documentation to prepare time, cost, materials, and labor estimates.
  • Conferred with engineers, architects, owners, contractors, and subcontractors on changes and adjustments to cost estimates.
  • Collected historical cost data to estimate costs for current or future products.

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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Adjacent work, and what it pays

Occupations in the same group of the federal classification — the usual next steps, or the ones beside this one.

Cost Estimators$78,740
Project Management Specialists$102,320+$23,580 Management Analysts$101,860+$23,120 Business Operations Specialists, All Other$83,050+$4,310 Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes$82,890+$4,150 Logisticians$82,320+$3,580 Compliance Officers$80,730+$1,990

Cost estimator wages, state by state

The 47 states where the most people do this work, of 51 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.64 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State Median a year Where most start 10th to 90th Employed
Massachusetts $100,840 $58,870 $58,870 — $151,780 4,520
Colorado $86,940 $58,890 $58,890 — $137,520 6,100
Washington $86,070 $59,650 $59,650 — $141,540 7,470
California $85,460 $51,750 $51,750 — $150,790 26,020
Illinois $82,750 $49,200 $49,200 — $136,590 5,990
Nevada $82,200 $49,200 $49,200 — $132,350 2,240
Rhode Island $81,990 $60,180 $60,180 — $130,740 590
Maryland $81,190 $50,660 $50,660 — $130,970 4,580
Connecticut $81,030 $50,020 $50,020 — $136,830 2,350
Minnesota $80,810 $56,640 $56,640 — $125,370 4,310
New Jersey $80,570 $50,390 $50,390 — $137,080 5,240
Virginia $80,530 $49,820 $49,820 — $129,330 5,840
Oregon $80,460 $49,970 $49,970 — $133,460 2,940
New York $80,430 $52,000 $52,000 — $139,690 11,980
Hawaii $80,360 $46,030 $46,030 — $139,380 1,040
Idaho $79,700 $48,200 $48,200 — $137,530 1,600
Utah $79,610 $51,740 $51,740 — $126,800 2,800
New Hampshire $79,560 $51,640 $51,640 — $129,030 980
Delaware $79,290 $49,580 $49,580 — $108,280 730
Pennsylvania $78,480 $49,570 $49,570 — $126,620 9,420
Michigan $77,990 $46,660 $46,660 — $125,520 6,960
Ohio $77,730 $48,750 $48,750 — $124,990 8,100
West Virginia $77,480 $42,730 $42,730 — $122,450 830
Montana $77,320 $50,120 $50,120 — $106,740 1,230
Louisiana $77,030 $43,840 $43,840 — $125,050 2,680
Arizona $77,010 $37,440 $37,440 — $127,880 5,760
Texas $76,980 $45,760 $45,760 — $132,310 20,760
Georgia $76,800 $46,600 $46,600 — $128,420 6,010
Wisconsin $76,270 $50,890 $50,890 — $111,530 5,150
Kansas $76,250 $48,860 $48,860 — $118,310 2,250
Iowa $76,040 $48,740 $48,740 — $118,410 1,870
Missouri $76,020 $44,840 $44,840 — $128,270 6,580
Tennessee $75,650 $42,440 $42,440 — $120,990 4,340
Alabama $74,990 $42,400 $42,400 — $118,160 3,000
Florida $74,990 $44,200 $44,200 — $128,050 13,720
South Dakota $74,950 $57,110 $57,110 — $129,560 1,030
Kentucky $74,880 $46,410 $46,410 — $119,530 1,960
North Carolina $74,730 $43,580 $43,580 — $123,240 8,030
Maine $74,080 $41,450 $41,450 — $123,040 760
Indiana $73,430 $50,630 $50,630 — $106,640 4,810
North Dakota $73,280 $52,730 $52,730 — $104,050 730
Nebraska $73,100 $50,040 $50,040 — $105,640 1,330
Mississippi $71,230 $41,600 $41,600 — $118,040 1,280
South Carolina $70,260 $46,970 $46,970 — $119,590 2,880
Oklahoma $67,800 $42,700 $42,700 — $104,750 1,860
New Mexico $67,590 $38,960 $38,960 — $109,610 900
Arkansas $61,470 $38,480 $38,480 — $110,040 1,400

No. 213 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 73% of the occupations in the survey.

  1. 211 Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists $78,760
  2. 212 English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary $78,760
  3. 213 Cost Estimators $78,740
  4. 214 Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents $78,660
  5. 215 Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary $78,620

Questions people often ask

What is a cost estimator’s yearly income?

A cost estimator makes a median of $78,740 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $61,150 and $101,850.

What is a cost estimator’s hourly pay rate?

The median pay rate is $37.86 an hour; the average is $85,390 a year.

What is the starting pay for a cost estimator?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $61,150 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $48,530.

Which state pays cost estimators the most?

Massachusetts, with a median of $100,840 a year.

How many people work as cost estimators?

About 224,220 in the United States — number 213 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Jobs that pay about the same

Median pay within $80 of what cost estimators earn — $78,740 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations