Building Inspector Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 2,755 US job postings by 799 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for building inspectors: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 2,755 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for building inspectors in US job postings is $38.38 an hour (602 postings from 185 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $32.00 to $47.50 an hour.
- The skills that most set building inspector postings apart are construction inspection, materials testing.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 3 years of experience.
Building Inspector job postings in the US, October 2026
- $38.38/hr
- Median advertised pay (602 postings)
- $32.00–$47.50
- Middle 50% of postings
- 2,755
- US job postings from 799 employers
- 3 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a building inspector make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $38.38 an hour, from 602 US job postings by 185 employers that state pay. That is about $82,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 602 US building inspector job postings: median $82,000 a year ($38.38 an hour), middle half $67,000 to $104,000.
- Median: $82,000 ($38.38/hr)
- 25th percentile: $67,000
- 75th percentile: $104,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 0.2% |
| $30K–$40K | 0.7% |
| $40K–$50K | 1.2% |
| $50K–$60K | 10.7% |
| $60K–$70K | 21.5% |
| $70K–$80K | 13.3% |
| $80K–$90K | 14.2% |
| $90K–$100K | 9.2% |
| $100K–$110K | 8.9% |
| $110K–$120K | 3.0% |
| $120K–$130K | 2.8% |
| $130K–$140K | 2.1% |
| $140K–$150K | 7.8% |
| $150K–$160K | 1.8% |
| $160K–$170K | 0.9% |
| $170K–$180K | 1.2% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $38.38 | $32.00–$47.50 | 355 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $82,000 | $67K–$104K | 602 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Construction and Building Inspectors (47-4011) at $75,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a building inspector?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Building inspector levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 85.4% | 3 years | $38.46/hr |
| Senior | 8.0% | 5 years | – |
Highest-paying building inspector jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction Inspector | $37.40/hr | 345 | 101 |
Skills employers ask for in building inspector job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 33% |
| Microsoft Office | 14% |
| Excel | 13% |
| Work independently | 13% |
| Attention to detail | 12% |
| Organizational skills | 10% |
| Construction inspection | 9% |
| Problem-solving | 9% |
| Interpersonal skills | 8% |
| Word | 7% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set building inspectors apart
- Construction inspection341.2× as often as in all postings · 9%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a building inspector job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a building inspector do?
Employers post these jobs as Construction Inspector, Plans Examiner, Code Enforcement Officer, Senior Construction Inspector, Home Inspector and other titles. The largest specializations are Construction Inspector (51%), Code Enforcement Officer (5%), Electrical Inspector (2%), Resident Project Representative (2%), Fire Inspector (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Construction and Building Inspectors (47-4011.00). Its most important tasks:
- Approve building plans that meet required specifications.
- Review and interpret plans, blueprints, site layouts, specifications, or construction methods to ensure compliance to legal requirements and safety regulations.
- Issue permits for construction, relocation, demolition, or occupancy.
- Inspect bridges, dams, highways, buildings, wiring, plumbing, electrical circuits, sewers, heating systems, or foundations during and after construction for structural quality, general safety, or conformance to specifications and codes.
- Monitor installation of plumbing, wiring, equipment, or appliances to ensure that installation is performed properly and is in compliance with applicable regulations.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a building inspector?
Among 1,267 postings that state a minimum, the median is 3 years. 2% say 0 years and 20% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,267 US building inspector job postings: median 3 years, and 20% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 4% |
| 1 yr | 16% |
| 2 yrs | 24% |
| 3-4 yrs | 25% |
| 5-7 yrs | 24% |
| 8-9 yrs | 2% |
| 10+ yrs | 5% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 80%, Part-time 20% of the 348 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a building inspector: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Construction Inspector | 211 (26.4%) |
| Building Inspector | 91 (11.4%) |
| Plans Examiner | 52 (6.5%) |
| Code Enforcement Officer | 46 (5.8%) |
| Senior Construction Inspector | 41 (5.1%) |
| Home Inspector | 41 (5.1%) |
| Transportation Construction Inspector | 29 (3.6%) |
| CEI Inspector | 27 (3.4%) |
| Special Inspector | 26 (3.2%) |
| Building Official | 24 (3.0%) |
| Resident Project Representative | 21 (2.6%) |
| Construction Inspector I | 20 (2.5%) |
| Bridge Inspector | 20 (2.5%) |
| Building Inspector I | 19 (2.4%) |
| Construction Inspector II | 18 (2.2%) |
| Electrical Inspector | 18 (2.2%) |
| Building Inspector II | 17 (2.1%) |
| Plumbing Inspector | 16 (2.0%) |
| Assistant Building Official | 15 (1.9%) |
| Senior Bridge Inspector | 13 (1.6%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Building inspector job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Inspector | 176 | 41 | – | – | – |
Building Inspector compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building Inspector | $38.38/hr | 3 years | 2,755 | – |
| Construction Manager | $115K | 5 years | 21,323 | 14 |
| Facilities Manager | $90K | 3 years | 3,360 | 14 |
| Laboratory Technician | $22.84/hr | 2 years | 3,224 | 17 |
| Water Treatment Operator | – | 2 years | 922 | 16 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Construction Manager | 14 | $115K |
| Facilities Manager | 14 | $90K |
| Laboratory Technician | 17 | $22.84/hr |
| Water Treatment Operator | 16 | – |
| Environmental Specialist | 14 | $105K |
| Project Manager | 12 | $130K |
Applying for building inspector jobs?
- Building inspector resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find building inspector jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.