Give each carpenter a starting spot
Study the building plans, decide which tasks must come first, and give each carpenter a starting spot.
Career profile
Construction and Extraction Supervisor
Construction and extraction supervisors lead crews that build, dig, or do extraction work.
Who takes the next task, and does the finished work pass inspection? You answer them and help sort out problems that could stall the crew.
A day in the life
Measure the layout against plans
Use a tape measure and framing square to check the carpentry layout against the plans before assembly continues.
Keep working around loader trouble
The loader has trouble, so you review the remaining work and reorder the crew's tasks during the fix.
Weigh timecards against upcoming work
You review the crew's timecards and estimate worker-hours for the upcoming task, sometimes tracking figures on a spreadsheet.
Quick facts
Experience comes first
United States · 2025
$79,920 median
United States · 2025
5% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Experience comes firstTypical preparation: a high school diploma or equivalent and five or more years of related work.
Pay
$79,920 medianNational annual median; the hourly median is $38.42.
Outlook
5% projected growthAbout 67,000 openings per year are projected nationally.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like explaining a task and checking whether your explanation worked.
- You enjoy deciding what must happen first when several people share equipment.
- You can give clear feedback without turning a work problem into a personal argument.
Things to weigh
- Workweeks can exceed 40 hours, and outdoor jobs expose you to heat, cold, and weather.
- You carry responsibility for other workers' safety while facing pressure to finish.
- Some quarry jobs include weekends and call-outs when problems arise.
Where AI may help
Scheduling software and digital records help organize crew plans, hours, and materials.
What people still lead
You judge whether a plan fits the equipment and people available, then explain changes to the crew.
What we can’t predict yet
How much planning software will handle on its own remains uncertain when site conditions change.
Pay in context
Earnings
The national median is a midpoint across working supervisors, not a starting offer.
The national midpoint
In 2025, median pay was $79,920 a year, with an hourly median of $38.42. These figures cover construction and extraction supervisors together.
Openings over the next decade
Employment is projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 67,000 openings annually on average. These are projected opportunities, not vacancies available today.
The national spread
In May 2025, the 10th-percentile annual wage was $53,280 and the 90th-percentile wage was $128,260. These are wage percentiles, not starting and senior salaries.
Compare building settings
In May 2023, supervisors averaged $73,550 a year in residential building construction and $84,850 in nonresidential building construction. These older figures compare industry averages, not today's offers.
Getting started
Learn a trade through an apprenticeship
Paid
- What the route involves
- In a carpentry apprenticeship, combine technical instruction with paid work alongside experienced carpenters.
- What it can lead to
- Build the trade experience needed to pursue lead carpenter or foreman work.
- What to check
- Apprenticeship entry requirements vary. Completing the program does not automatically make you a supervisor.
Move up from equipment work
- What the route involves
- Build experience operating construction equipment, recognizing malfunctions, and following work plans.
- What it can lead to
- That experience can support a move into directing operators and organizing their daily work.
- What to check
- Check the role's equipment certifications and driver's-license requirements; related experience alone may not qualify you.
Usually, you learn the work before leading the people doing it. Requirements depend on the trade and employer.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Build a dependable routine for explaining assignments, checking safety expectations, and keeping crew time records accurate.
Plan more complicated work
Improve your estimates of labor needs and learn to adjust work sequences around equipment capacity and project deadlines.
Coordinate several crews
A general foreman role can add responsibility for other foremen and their crews, bringing several work schedules together.
Where you can work
Building carpentry crews
Your setting may shift from outdoor structural work to indoor doors and cabinets. You need to read plans closely while checking how the crew's work fits the building.
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- Physical demands
- Safety-sensitive
Construction equipment crews
You work around loaders, dozers, and other machines. Equipment condition and operator coordination shape the day; some foremen also operate equipment.
- Field work
- Vehicle
- Safety-sensitive
Quarries
You connect the mine plan with daily stone production, coordinating quarry staff and maintenance. Dust and weather are part of the setting.
- Outdoors
- Field work
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
On paper, plan a four-person crew's day: unload materials, mark a layout, assemble a frame, and inspect it. Decide which tasks depend on others. Then imagine the delivery is late and revise the assignments. Notice whether you enjoy explaining the new plan as much as making it.
Stay safe: Keep this a paper exercise; it is not a plan for actual construction.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics, 2025–35. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- Mortenson. Carpenter Foreman — Lincoln, Nebraska. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- Mortenson. Operator Foreman — Los Lunas, New Mexico. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- Mortenson. Equipment Solutions Foreman — Eagle Mountain, Utah. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- Mortenson. Civil Craft Operator General Foreman — Aggreko Pad. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- Cheney Lime and Cement. Quarry Supervisor Job Description. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Carpenters — Occupational Outlook Handbook. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Tables. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2023 wages: First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers. Accessed 2026-10-02.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national estimates. Accessed 2026-09-29.