West Virginia prevailing wage
State law, federal determinations, and how to find the rate that applies
- West Virginia has no state prevailing-wage law - only the federal Davis-Bacon Act applies, on federally funded construction over $2,000. (2016 — repealed (HB 4005), effective May 2016.)
- The U.S. Department of Labor has 112 active federal Davis-Bacon wage determinations covering 55 West Virginia counties as of (latest revision date), each setting county rates by trade for federally funded construction.
- Market context: the average private construction worker in West Virginia earned $1,394/week (≈ $34.85/hour) in Q1 2026, rank #44 of 51 states, per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - an industry average, not a prevailing-wage rate.
Recent change: 2016 — repealed (HB 4005), effective May 2016.
Former W. Va. Code §21-5A repealed; federal Davis-Bacon applies to federally funded work.
How to find the required rate
- State or locally funded project: no state prevailing-wage requirement - check any local ordinances and the funding source.
- Federally funded project: find the county in the West Virginia 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: 48 · Heavy: 28 · Highway: 33 · Residential: 3 - every determination and the counties it covers are listed in the West Virginia wage-determination index, each with its full rate schedule mirrored. Service contracts: 26 active SCA determinations for West Virginia.
What construction actually pays here
Separate from any required rate: BLS data puts the average private construction wage in West Virginia at $1,394/week (+10.5% YoY) in Q1 2026 - details and history on West Virginia 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.