Guam’s construction sector has expanded sharply across several measures, although activity has not moved in a straight line. Employment, H-2 construction workers, gross receipt taxes, permit values, military contracts, and wages each describe a different part of the market. The figures below keep those definitions and measurement periods separate so readers can see both the long-term expansion and the more recent changes.
Contents
- Employment and workforce growth
- H-2 construction workers
- Permits and construction activity
- Civilian building permits and military contracts
- DOD investment and remaining work
- Wages, hours, and construction pay
- Guam’s wider labor market
Employment and workforce growth
Construction employment rose through the late 2010s and into the early 2020s. The Guam PYs 2020-2023 report recorded 5,800 construction workers in March 2018. By March 2019, the figure had reached 6,760, and March 2020 preliminary figures showed 7,850. That is a gain of 2,050 workers between March 2018 and March 2020, measured at the March employment points reported in that source.
The 2023 Guam Statistical Yearbook shows another increase later in the period. Guam construction employment was 7,860 in September 2020 and 10,710 in September 2022. The two September observations differ by 2,850 jobs. Because the dates are September rather than March, they should be read as a separate comparison from the earlier March series.
The most recent employment information in the supplied Guam BLS September 2025 Current Employment Report gives a mixed picture. Construction employment increased by 360 jobs in the latest quarter, while it declined by 400 jobs over the latest year. Those two changes describe different comparison windows: the quarter-to-quarter movement was positive, but the year-over-year movement was negative.
The historical record therefore contains three useful signals. First, construction employment grew from 5,800 in March 2018 to 7,850 preliminary workers in March 2020. Second, the September count rose from 7,860 in 2020 to 10,710 in 2022. Third, the September 2025 report showed short-term quarterly growth alongside a year-over-year decline. These measures should not be combined into one continuous series without adjusting for their different months and reporting definitions.
H-2 construction workers
H-2 workers are another indicator of construction demand, but they are not the same as total construction employment. The Guam PYs 2020-2023 report recorded 1,570 H-2 workers on December 31, 2015, including 1,334 in construction trades. Thus, construction trades accounted for most of the H-2 workers identified in that dated snapshot, although the source does not provide a full workforce composition for every year.
The 2023 Guam Statistical Yearbook recorded 1,527 Guam H-2 workers in construction in December 2020. By December 2022, the number had risen to 3,433. That is an increase of 1,906 construction H-2 workers across the two December observations.
The workforce figures and H-2 figures point in the same broad direction during the early 2020s: both increased between their comparable reported periods. They measure different populations, however. Total construction employment was 10,710 in September 2022, while H-2 construction workers numbered 3,433 in December 2022. The months differ, and the categories should not be treated as interchangeable.
For readers tracking labor availability, the practical distinction matters. Total employment describes the sector’s reported job count. H-2 construction workers describe a specific temporary-worker component at a particular date. The 2015 snapshot and the 2020-to-2022 series also come from different source reports, so each historical label should remain attached to its own measurement period.
Permits and construction activity
The Department of Public Works figures reported by GEDA Economic Indicators show substantial variation in annual building and construction permit fees. Fees were $307,928,000 in FY2021, rose to $580,040,000 in FY2022, fell to $253,860,000 in FY2023, and then increased to $378,313,000 in FY2024. FY2025 fees were $373,292,000.
The permit-fee sequence is useful because it shows that a high year was followed by a sharp decline rather than a steady climb. FY2022 was the highest of the five listed years at $580.040 million. FY2023 was $326.180 million lower than FY2022, and FY2025 remained $206.748 million below the FY2022 amount. FY2024 and FY2025 were close to one another, with FY2025 lower by $5.021 million.
The number of permits issued also moved unevenly. GEDA Economic Indicators, citing the Department of Public Works, reported 969 total permits in FY2021 and 1,002 in FY2022. The count then fell to 740 in FY2023, rose to 925 in FY2024, and stood at 779 in FY2025.
| Fiscal year | Permit fees | Total permits issued |
|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $307,928,000 | 969 |
| FY2022 | $580,040,000 | 1,002 |
| FY2023 | $253,860,000 | 740 |
| FY2024 | $378,313,000 | 925 |
| FY2025 | $373,292,000 | 779 |
Fees and permit counts do not move in exact proportion. FY2022 had both the highest listed fee total and the highest permit count. In FY2025, fees were nearly the FY2024 level, but the permit count was 146 lower. That difference is a reminder that the value of permitted work and the number of permits are separate indicators.
Civilian building permits and military contracts
The Guam PYs 2020-2023 report separates building permits from military contracts in thousands of dollars. Building permits totaled $364,504 thousand in 2012, $449,147 thousand in 2013, $308,451 thousand in 2014, and $221,285 thousand in 2015. The series then reached $433,358 thousand in 2016, $423,015 thousand in 2017, $355,045 thousand in 2018, and $487,316 thousand in 2019.
Military contracts were $152,095 thousand in 2012, $88,001 thousand in 2013, $261,234 thousand in 2014, and $164,377 thousand in 2015. The report recorded $26,463 thousand in 2016, $167,932 thousand in 2017, $306,350 thousand in 2018, and $415,878 thousand in 2019.
The pattern changed by category and year. Building permits reached their highest listed value in 2019 at $487,316 thousand. Military contracts reached their highest listed value in the same series in 2019 at $415,878 thousand. In 2016, by contrast, building permits were $433,358 thousand while military contracts were $26,463 thousand.
The chart’s 2019 construction-related total was $903,194 thousand. This is a reported chart total from the Guam PYs 2020-2023 source. It should be read as the source’s construction-related total rather than as a new estimate calculated here.
The 2023 Guam Statistical Yearbook gives a later combined measure for civilian projects and DOD construction contracts. The total value was $475.9 million in 2016, $1.7 billion in 2021, and $1.3 billion in 2022. These observations use a different presentation and source label from the building-permit and military-contract series above, so they are best used as a separate overview of combined project value.
DOD investment and remaining work
Federal DOD construction appropriations increased from $248.7 million in FY2017 to $523.0 million in FY2023, according to the 2023 Guam Statistical Yearbook. The two reported fiscal-year amounts differ by $274.3 million. This is an appropriations comparison, not a direct count of completed projects or construction jobs.
The same yearbook reported that ongoing DOD construction projects on Guam totaled more than $2.2 billion in project cost. Remaining work on those ongoing projects totaled more than $1.1 billion. Both figures are stated as “more than” amounts, so they should not be treated as exact totals.
The yearbook also stated that construction was expected to increase substantially from current levels in FY2023 and FY2024. That statement is a forecast or expectation recorded in the 2023 report, not a measured outcome for every project in those fiscal years. Keeping the forecast separate from the observed permit, employment, and wage figures is important when interpreting the outlook.
Taken together, the DOD measures show the scale of the federal construction pipeline: FY2023 appropriations were $523.0 million, ongoing project cost exceeded $2.2 billion, and remaining work exceeded $1.1 billion. These are related indicators of investment and pipeline size, but they are not additive and do not describe the same accounting measure.
Wages, hours, and construction pay
Construction pay increased across the December observations reported in GEDA Economic Indicators from the Guam BLS Current Employment Report. The construction average hourly wage was $17.44 in December 2021 and $18.11 in December 2022. It was $18.09 in December 2023, $19.54 in December 2024, and $20.24 in December 2025.
The December series shows the largest listed year-to-year increase between 2023 and 2024, when the reported average hourly wage rose by $1.45. The December 2025 figure was $0.70 higher than December 2024 and $2.15 higher than December 2023. These are nominal wage figures as reported; the supplied data does not provide an inflation adjustment.
The Guam BLS September 2025 Current Employment Report provides additional construction measures. Average weekly hours paid rose from 40.6 to 41.7, average weekly earnings rose from $816.48 to $853.88, and average hourly earnings rose from $20.12 to $20.48. Each comparison is between the report’s stated September periods.
For context, private nonsupervisory workers across all industries saw average hourly earnings rise from $18.38 in September 2024 to $18.69 in September 2025. Their average weekly hours paid rose from 37.8 to 38.2, while average weekly earnings rose from $695.56 to $713.10. The construction figures were higher than the all-industry private nonsupervisory averages in the corresponding September 2025 measures: $20.48 versus $18.69 per hour, 41.7 versus 38.2 hours, and $853.88 versus $713.10 per week.
Guam’s wider labor market
Construction should also be viewed alongside Guam’s overall employment base. GEDA Economic Indicators, using the Guam BLS December 2025 Current Employment Report, recorded total payroll employment of 68,440 in December 2025. Private-sector payroll employment was 52,800, federal government payroll employment was 3,890, and Government of Guam payroll employment was 11,750.
The categories provide different views of payroll employment and should not be added together as though they were independent populations. Private-sector, federal, and Government of Guam payroll figures are sector classifications within the broader payroll-employment picture.
GEDA Economic Indicators, using the Guam BLS June 2025 Unemployment Situation, recorded a civilian labor force of 70,670 in June 2025. Employed residents numbered 68,400, unemployed residents numbered 2,270, and the unemployment rate was 3.2%. These are resident labor-market measures from June, while the payroll figures above are December measures. The differing dates and concepts matter when using them to frame construction conditions.
Finally, the December 2025 construction average hourly wage was $20.24, compared with $19.54 in December 2024, $18.09 in December 2023, $18.11 in December 2022, and $17.44 in December 2021. Alongside the permit, employment, and DOD figures, this wage sequence gives readers a current reference point for how Guam construction has changed across investment, labor demand, and pay.