Missouri prevailing wage
State law, federal determinations, and how to find the rate that applies
- Missouri has its own prevailing-wage law (RSMo §§290.210–290.340), applying to public-works contracts over $75,000 (projects of $75,000 or less exempt), administered by Missouri Dept. of Labor and Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards.
- The U.S. Department of Labor has 65 active federal Davis-Bacon wage determinations covering 115 Missouri counties as of (latest revision date), each setting county rates by trade for federally funded construction.
- Market context: the average private construction worker in Missouri earned $1,644/week (≈ $41.10/hour) in Q1 2026, rank #23 of 51 states, per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - an industry average, not a prevailing-wage rate.
Recent change: 2018 — HB 1729 (effective Aug 28, 2018) exempted projects of $75,000 or less and created the Public Works Contracting Minimum Wage for thin-survey occupations.
Two-rate system (RSMo 290.257): a surveyed prevailing wage where 1,000+ hours were reported for the occupation in the county, otherwise the PWCMW (120% of the average county wage).
How to find the required rate
- State or locally funded project: use the rate schedules from Missouri Dept. of Labor and Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards - official Missouri prevailing-wage portal.
- Federally funded project: find the county in the Missouri determination index and open the official SAM.gov document for your construction type.
- Read the classification line - base rate plus fringe (how to read a determination); compute totals and overtime with the calculator.
Federal determinations at a glance
Building: 49 · Heavy: 1 · Highway: 1 · Residential: 15 - every determination and the counties it covers are listed in the Missouri wage-determination index, each with its full rate schedule mirrored. Service contracts: 34 active SCA determinations for Missouri.
Recently revised determinations
- MO20260080 (rev 2) - modified , Building
- MO20260001 (rev 4) - modified , Heavy, Highway
What construction actually pays here
Separate from any required rate: BLS data puts the average private construction wage in Missouri at $1,644/week (0.0% YoY) in Q1 2026 - details and history on Missouri construction wages.
Learn the system
What a prevailing wage is · The Davis-Bacon Act · Certified payroll · Fringe calculator
Data on this page is from U.S. government public-domain sources - free to reuse with credit and a link to prevailingwageindex.com.