State Of The Trades: October 2025

by Rich CamachoHiring Center, Hiring Trends

Trade Worker Wages Continue to Soar

Summary Even as U.S. manufacturing dipped and the overall labor market softened, pay for skilled trades rose dramatically in October. Construction and Home Services led the way, HVAC is once again the most in-demand trade, and a wave of younger workers, especially young women, are choosing the trades. Here’s what employers need to know.

Why this Report Matters With a partial federal government shutdown limiting regular releases from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we’re sharing timely, accurate labor insights from BlueRecruit real-time hiring marketplace to help you make informed decisions.

Key Takeaways from October 2025

      1. Construction & Home Services are driving wage growth.
      2. Gen Z interest in the trades is surging, but employers must modernize hiring, onboarding, and training to capture the opportunity.

1. Construction & Home Service Trades are Bringing in Big Bucks

Like everything else in this world, demand drives supply, and in this industry, the demand for skilled trade workers is driving salaries.

  • North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and California have shared the top three spots for highest number of skilled trades job creation for the past 4 months. However, of those three states, North Carolina is the only state that also has a top spot for workers wishing to relocate to. Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and Alabama are the top four states, respectively, for which more workers wish to relocate to than any others in the nation.
  • Pro Tip: Providing a relocation allowance of $5,000 is the ideal dollar figure for recruiting out-of-state talent to your organization while keeping your budget in mind.
  • HVAC Technicians found themselves in a familiar spot in October, as the most in-demand trade workers in the nation. As a result, they along with the other most in-demand trades listed below are experiencing tremendous increases in new hire hourly pay:
      • HVAC Technician $4.28 phr
      • Automotive Technicians $3.23 phr
      • Plumbers $2.26 phr
      • Electricians $1.88 phr
      • Carpenters $1.62 phr
      • General Laborers $0.33 phr
  • Did You Know: You can pull real-time compensation and demand data for 150+ different trades for your local market at any time on BlueCareer.

  1. Young People Want to Work, but Companies Need to Train Them

Young people, and especially young women, are choosing to pursue skilled trade careers in numbers our nation has not seen since WW2. While this is incredible news and highlights the tireless efforts of countless influencers, workforce organizations, and mentors, failure to capitalize on this movement and develop long-term training strategies could make all these efforts and growth all for naught.

  • California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Arizona produced more new skilled workers in October that any other states.
  • Over 50% of all new trade workers in 2025 are under the age of 34. There is a large and motivated population of young people eager to work.
  • 49% of Gen Z are interested in either attending or learning more about vocational training opportunities. There has been nearly a 50% increase amongst Gen Z interested in attending trade school versus 2017, and trade school enrollment has grown by roughly 6.5% year-over-year for the past 5 years. By the way, 87% of Gen Z interested in exploring the skilled trades have at least a High School Diploma. So no, trade school is not a fall back or second option, it is quickly becoming the preferred career path of this generation.
  • Pro Tip: Providing tuition reimbursement plans is a great way to drive recruitment and build employee retention.
  • Training is critical. It does not matter how busy you are, how small your company is, or what your budget is, you need to develop internal training and development programs at your company. Thinking that you can simply hire an “experienced Journeyman” is a losing strategy. Take a look at the salary data above. If you can’t afford to train new talent you surely can’t afford to recruit a Journeyman away from a competitor!

Meet BlueRecruit – Built for the Trades
BlueRecruit is a direct-hire marketplace for skilled-trade workers who want to build their careers and the companies seeking their talent. By eliminating resumes and job posts, BlueRecruit focuses on what matters most: skills, certifications, and experience.

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