Davis-Bacon wage rates (noun) are prevailing wage rates that contractors and subcontractors must pay laborers and mechanics working on federal construction projects. For example, the Davis-Bacon wage rates for a carpenter working on a federal courthouse in Los Angeles, California in 2023 may be $45.00 per hour.
Davis-Bacon wage rates ensure that construction workers are fairly compensated and that federal construction projects are not built with taxpayer money on the backs of low-wage workers. Davis-Bacon wage rates were first established in 1931 and have been consistently upheld by the courts, including the Supreme Court. Since their inception, Davis-Bacon wage rates have helped to protect millions of construction workers from poverty wages.
