Craft labor insights in San Antonio

Every week, thousands of craft professionals across the U.S. join the Skillit platform to connect with the nation’s best and biggest general and specialty trade contractors. This generates millions of proprietary data points which we anonymize and structure into labor intelligence to help decision-makers gain a competitive edge in a tight labor market.

Key Findings

As of December 3rd 2024, craft professionals in San Antonio are:

  • Paid an average of $24 to $27 across trades hourly, with desired pay increases ranging from $1.7 to $3.5 per hour and averaging at $2.50.

  • Notwithstanding, a sizable portion of craft talent in San Antonio indicate comfort accepting lower pay of 18% to 24%, indicating they may value other aspects of compensation.

  • Non-financial compensation motivators include benefits (43%) and training (29%).

  • Major construction specific employers include Alterman Electric, Williams Scottsman, Walker Engineering and IES Residential, amongst others.

  • Average years of experience are 16.16, which is 1.15X national.

  • Main certifications are OSHA 10, forklift operator and CPR First Aid.

  • Work authorization is 73% and the ‘would rather not say’ segment is high at 2% which is 1.3X national.

  • Gender balance is low at .69X compared to national data. The trades are predominantly male, especially in Carpentry (97.2%), conversely female representation is at its highest for Pipefitters (4.0%).

  • San Antonio has a preference for English as a working language (78%), although Spanish is also strong at the remaining 22%.

  • Craft trades are more easily contactable in San Antonio at 1.35X national, thereby creating a great opportunity.

  • In terms of preferred methods of contact, email responses are negligible, with most contact occurring via SMS and calls.

  • Local commute stands at 29 miles on average, 2.2X national, suggesting potential differences in job availability or regional factors influencing commuting.

  • Craft professionals willing to migrate to San Antonio come primarily from Texas (74%), followed by Florida (12%).

  • OSHA 10 is the most common certification across all trades, in line with national.

 

Current craft pay in San Antonio

San Antonio craft professionals have lower hourly rates than the national average across all trades.

 

Craft pay expectations in San Antonio

The national average desired pay is higher than San Antonio's across all trades, indicating a consistent nationwide expectation of higher compensation.

 
 

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Craft compensation flexibility in San Antonio

A relatively small percentage of San Antonio workers in each trade are willing to compromise their salary for a desirable position. The percentages are generally similar between San Antonio and national figures. For example, 20% of carpenters in San Antonio are willing to accept lower pay, compared to 22% nationally.

 

Non-financial compensation trends

In San Antonio, the importance of benefits shows some variation across trades, but generally stays within the 30-40% range and averages across all trades at 42%. Training & upskilling is consistently one of the top two motivators, often competing with benefits for the highest ranking and averaging across all trades at 29%. Women-friendly environment generally the least important factor for the majority of the trades shown.

 

Meet San Antonio’s biggest employers of craft professionals

Our data reveals that Alterman Electric is one of the most prominent employers in San Antonio with electricians, heavy equipment operators, drywallers and welders citing it as a past or current employer.

 
 
 

Skill, Experience & Certifications

The national average skill assessment score tends to be higher than the San Antonio average across most trades. There is also variation in average scores. This suggests some trades have a higher level of skilled professionals than others, regardless of location.

 
 
 
 
 

Work authorization

The vast majority of workers in each trade are reportedly authorized to work in San Antonio, across all trades. Both San Antonio and the national average show authorization rates consistently above 70% for all trades.

 
 

Gender and language

The percentage of women in all trades is consistently below 5% in both San Antonio and nationally. Laborers have the highest representation of women in San Antonio (4.6%). Some trades have a higher proportion of Spanish speakers than others, such as concrete workers, carpenters and plumbers.

 
 

Contactability and communication

Recruiters in San Antonio are more successful in connecting with craft professionals than those at the national level - it is generally easier to contact San Antonio craft workers - around 80% vs. the national average of around 60%. Email, SMS and calls are all effective means of communication. Recruiters should know that this is a great opportunity to build a robust talent pipeline.

 
 
 

Union membership

San Antonio’s craft workers tend to have higher union memberships for electricians at 17.1% compared to the national average of 9.3%. Professions like carpenters, laborers, HECOs, and pipelayers and pipefitters show lower union membership in San Antonio compared to national averages. Overall, union membership is low compared to national at 0.87X.

 

One-way commute distance

Many trades in San Antonio exhibit longer commute distances compared to the national average, suggesting potential differences in job availability or regional factors influencing commuting. Welders have a noteworthy average in San Antonio at around 32.33 miles versus the national average.

 

Migration

Most craft labor migrating or willing to migrate to San Antonio comes from nearby regions in the state, likely due to geographic proximity and ease of relocation. Craft workers are also willing to migrate from the Southern United States, beyond Texas and from neighboring states such as Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Pipelayers are the least likely trade willing to relocate to San Antonio.

 
 
 
 

OSHA

San Antonio has HEO’s show overall higher levels of OSHA Certifications than national. All trades have the highest level of OSHA 10 certification which is in line with national.

 
 
 
 
 

Get to know craft professionals elsewhere

 

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Our methodology

All data included in this report is as of August 30, 2024 and based on the anonymized data from over 20,000 Skillit member profiles located in, or interested in relocating to, Dallas and 12 months of communications between employers and craft professionals aggregated across the Skillit platform.

 

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