Rhode Island prevailing wage
State law, federal determinations, and how to find the rate that applies
- Rhode Island has its own prevailing-wage law (R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 37-13), applying to public-works contracts over $1,000, administered by RI Dept. of Labor and Training, Prevailing Wage Unit.
- The U.S. Department of Labor has 4 active federal Davis-Bacon wage determinations covering 5 Rhode Island counties as of (latest revision date), each setting county rates by trade for federally funded construction.
- Market context: the average private construction worker in Rhode Island earned $1,685/week (≈ $42.12/hour) in Q4 2024, rank #16 of 51 states, per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - an industry average, not a prevailing-wage rate.
Public works using $1,000 or more of state or municipal funds.
How to find the required rate
- State or locally funded project: use the rate schedules from RI Dept. of Labor and Training, Prevailing Wage Unit - official Rhode Island prevailing-wage portal.
- Federally funded project: find the county in the Rhode Island 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: 1 · Heavy: 2 · Highway: 1 · Residential: 2 - every determination and the counties it covers are listed in the Rhode Island wage-determination index, each with its full rate schedule mirrored. Service contracts: 9 active SCA determinations for Rhode Island.
Recently revised determinations
- RI20260001 (rev 4) - modified , Building, Heavy, Highway
What construction actually pays here
Separate from any required rate: BLS data puts the average private construction wage in Rhode Island at $1,685/week (+3.6% YoY) in Q4 2024 - details and history on Rhode Island 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.