This is the 24th installment of Construction Junkie's weekly analysis of the hourly wages of each individual construction profession by state. The three previous professions we examined were elevator installers, reinforcing iron and rebar workers, pipelayers, and concrete finishers. You can also see the full list of all past and future professions by clicking here.
I had a request to cover fire suppression system installers on our weekly look at hourly wage data, but unfortunately the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't specifically break that profession out separately. They do, however, have a category called Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers, which I believe will cover the category. According to the BLS, Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers "Install, program, maintain, and repair security and fire alarm wiring and equipment."
Below you'll find a breakout of how each state compensates their Security and Fire Systems Installers. All data below comes from the BLS' most recent reports from May 2016.
Graph of Average Hourly Wage of Security and Fire Systems Installers, by State
Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of Security and Fire Systems Installers, by State
51. District of Columbia -- Data Not Available/hour
50. Arkansas -- $15.30/hour
49. Mississippi -- $15.79/hour
48. West Virginia -- $17.61/hour
47. Louisiana -- $17.73/hour
46. Georgia -- $17.89/hour
45. Nebraska -- $18.08/hour
44. New Mexico -- $18.10/hour
43. South Carolina -- $18.11/hour
42. Kentucky -- $18.85/hour
41. Oklahoma -- $19.14/hour
40. Alabama -- $19.63/hour
39. North Carolina -- $20.14/hour
38. Florida -- $20.22/hour
37. Idaho -- $20.43/hour
36. Montana -- $20.53/hour
35. Missouri -- $20.66/hour
34. Wisconsin -- $21.21/hour
33. Virginia -- $21.33/hour
32. Iowa -- $21.34/hour
31. Indiana -- $21.50/hour
30. Texas -- $21.56/hour
29. Utah -- $21.60/hour
28. Michigan -- $21.73/hour
27. Hawaii -- $21.76/hour
26. Vermont -- $21.86/hour
25. Oregon -- $21.87/hour
24. Rhode Island -- $21.92/hour
23. Pennsylvania -- $22.00/hour
22. Illinois -- $22.38/hour
21. Tennessee -- $22.42/hour
20. Colorado -- $22.53/hour
19. Maine -- $22.60/hour
18. Ohio -- $22.70/hour
17. Minnesota -- $22.87/hour
16. Washington--$22.90/hour
15. New York -- $23.00/hour
14. Wyoming -- $23.49/hour
13. California -- $23.50/hour
12. New Hampshire -- $23.71/hour
11. North Dakota -- $23.82/hour
10. Maryland -- $24.12/hour
9. New Jersey -- $24.13/hour
8. Kansas -- $24.64/hour
7. Nevada -- $24.89/hour
6. Delaware -- $24.94/hour
5. Arizona -- $25.39/hour
4. South Dakota -- $25.62/hour
3. Connecticut -- $26.10/hour
2. Massachusetts -- $27.85/hour
1. Alaska -- $30.69/hour
Graph of Average Hourly Wage of Security and Fire Systems Installers - Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State
Cost of living in each state also has a large impact on the amount of money construction trades actually bring home, so the graph below shows each state's adjusted hourly wage based upon the cost of living index for that state. All cost of living index data comes from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center and was last updated for the second quarter of 2017. The cost of living index was based upon grocery, housing, utilities, transportation, health, and miscellaneous costs for each state.
Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of Security and Fire Systems Installers- Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State
51. District of Columbia -- Data Not Available/hour
50. Hawaii -- $7.31/hour
49. California -- $12.78/hour
48. Oregon -- $14.94/hour
47. New York -- $15.73/hour
46. Rhode Island -- $17.03/hour
45. Arkansas -- $17.23/hour
44. Maryland -- $17.61/hour
43. Mississippi -- $18.08/hour
42. West Virginia -- $18.33/hour
41. South Carolina -- $18.36/hour
40. Louisiana -- $18.69/hour
39. New Jersey -- $18.70/hour
38. New Mexico -- $19.17/hour
37. Massachusetts -- $19.36/hour
36. Nebraska -- $19.56/hour
35. Georgia -- $19.57/hour
34. Maine -- $19.96/hour
33. Kentucky -- $20.11/hour
32. Montana -- $20.39/hour
31. Florida -- $20.52/hour
30. Virginia -- $20.86/hour
29. New Hampshire -- $20.86/hour
28. Washington -- $21.07/hour
27. Oklahoma -- $21.09/hour
26. Vermont -- $21.23/hour
25. North Carolina -- $21.23/hour
24. Alaska -- $21.36/hour
23. Alabama -- $21.46/hour
22. Pennsylvania -- $21.65/hour
21. Wisconsin -- $21.76/hour
20. Connecticut -- $21.79/hour
19. Colorado -- $21.88/hour
18. Idaho -- $22.21/hour
17. Utah -- $22.62/hour
16. Missouri--$22.75/hour
15. Minnesota -- $22.92/hour
14. Illinois -- $23.01/hour
13. Iowa -- $23.07/hour
12. Indiana -- $23.48/hour
11. Nevada -- $23.55/hour
10. Texas -- $23.59/hour
9. Michigan -- $23.84/hour
8. North Dakota -- $24.08/hour
7. Wyoming -- $24.31/hour
6. Delaware -- $24.39/hour
5. Ohio -- $24.45/hour
4. Tennessee -- $24.80/hour
3. South Dakota -- $25.72/hour
2. Arizona -- $26.28/hour
1. Kansas -- $27.18/hour
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