Construction Manager.
Seattle.
$133,000
median salary, 24% above the national average
$103,000 to $172,000. Last updated August 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
The median Construction Manager salary in Seattle is $133,000, 24% above the national average. Entry level starts near $103,000. Experienced professionals push past $172,000. Seattle is home to Amazon, Microsoft, and a dense cluster of cloud computing, gaming, and AI companies. That spread is your negotiation window. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Construction Manager in Seattle, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $159,430 for Construction Managers (SOC 11-9021) in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metropolitan area, based on 4,010 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$109,800
25th percentile
$133,100
Median
$159,430
75th percentile
$186,460
90th percentile
$221,370
Workers surveyed
4,010
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Construction Managers (SOC 11-9021) rather than Construction Manager specifically. The Seattlerange at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 11-9021Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $120,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$86,000
to $106,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$113,000
to $140,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$146,000
to $173,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$166,000
to $206,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $40,000 to the total package.
Base
$133,000
Equity
$23,000
Bonus
$14,000
Signing
$3,000
Estimated total: $173,000
How Seattle compares.
Seattle, WA
$133,000
Cost of living: 24% above average
National Average
$107,000
Seattle is $26,000 above
Construction Manager salary by city.
Salary by role in Seattle.
What you should know.
If you are interviewing for Construction Manager roles in Seattle, here is what you are walking into. Seattle is home to Amazon, Microsoft, and a dense cluster of cloud computing, gaming, and AI companies. The presence of major tech headquarters drives some of the highest engineering salaries outside the Bay Area. Seattle's job market is particularly strong for cloud infrastructure, machine learning, and enterprise software roles. Project size and sector determine the widest pay gaps. Managers overseeing $50M-plus commercial, healthcare, or data center projects earn 20 to 30% more than residential construction managers. PMP or CCM certifications add 10 to 15% to offers, and bilingual managers in diverse labor markets command additional premiums.
Assistant superintendents start at $55,000 to $68,000, moving to project manager at $78,000 to $110,000 within five to seven years. Senior construction managers earn $115,000 to $145,000, while directors of construction or VP roles at major general contractors reach $155,000 to $220,000. In Seattle, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 24% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
Base salary is not the full picture. Performance bonuses tied to project margins typically add 10 to 20% of base salary. Company vehicles or car allowances of $600 to $1,000 monthly are standard, and many firms offer profit-sharing plans that add $5,000 to $20,000 annually. And on the tax side: washington State has no personal income tax, which significantly boosts take home pay. However, state and local sales taxes are among the highest in the country at roughly 10.25%. When someone quotes you $133,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Remind employers that no state income tax makes your effective compensation higher. You can accept a slightly lower gross salary and still take home more than in California. The range for Construction Managers in Seattle runs from $103,000 to $172,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- An Environmental Engineer in Seattle earns $132,000 (1% less)
- The highest-paying role in Seattle is CTO at $365,000
Common questions.
Construction Manager salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Seattle.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to Construction Managers in Seattle.
Related tools.
Do you work as a construction manager in Seattle?
Your individual figure is never published. Submissions appear only as aggregate percentiles, and nothing is shown for a role and city until at least five people have reported. It is stored against your account, which is what keeps the dataset clean.
Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
Want this data on your site? Embed the salary widget. One script tag, free forever.
Related tools