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Kern County · Asbestos & Lead Abatement Laborer
Asbestos & Lead Abatement Laborer prevailing wage in Kern County, California
$78.54an hour, base wage + fringe benefits · Asbestos and Lead Abatement Worker
$49.20 base wage + $29.34 fringe benefits
Kern County uses the same asbestos and lead abatement laborer rates as 11 other counties. See all of them on one page.
On California public works in Kern County, an asbestos and lead abatement laborer working as asbestos and lead abatement worker must be paid at least $78.54 an hour in total: $49.20 in wages plus $29.34 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $103.14 and Sunday and holiday work is $127.74.
DIR general determination SC-102-882-1-2026-1, issued August 22, 2026. Expires June 30, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.
Base wage and fringe benefits: $49.20 + $29.34
The basic hourly rate is the taxable wage. The other lines, the fringe benefits DIR calls employer payments, are what DIR expects the employer to pay into health, pension and other plans for each hour worked. An employer can pay part of that as extra wages instead, as long as the total per hour stays at $78.54 or more.
| Basic hourly rate (taxable wage) | $49.20 |
| Health and welfare | $9.85 |
| Pension | $12.92 |
| Vacation and holiday (footnote a) | $5.20 |
| Training | $0.85 |
| Other payments (footnote b) | $0.52 |
| Total straight-time hourly rate | $78.54 |
Straight time covers an 8-hour day.
When does this rate change?
- A project pays the rates in effect on its bid advertisement date for the life of the job, plus any increase DIR set in advance (DIR FAQ).
- DIR issues new determinations on February 22 and August 22, and they take effect 10 days later. This rate is from determination SC-102-882-1-2026-1, issued August 22, 2026; DIR's expiration date for it is June 30, 2027.
Scheduled increases
DIR has scheduled an increase for this rate, but it's in a regional PDF we haven't matched to this classification yet. The amounts are in DIR's increase file.
The double asterisk after DIR's expiration date means the next rate is already set. If the work runs past that date you have to pay the new rate, and DIR says to build it into contracts signed now (DIR FAQ, Q8).
Source: DIR increase PDF
Davis-Bacon asbestos and lead abatement laborer rate in Kern County
Federally funded or assisted construction here uses the U.S. Department of Labor's wage determinations. When a California awarding body runs a federally funded or assisted project, DIR's rates must be paid where they are higher than the Davis-Bacon rates (DIR public works FAQ).
We don't put a federal figure next to DIR's here, because this page leads with a classification the federal determinations don't list one to one. The federal rows for this trade are below; match the classification to the work.
| Construction | Federal classification | Base wage | Total rate | WD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building, Highway, Heavy | ASBESTOS REMOVAL WORKER/HAZARDOUS MATERIAL HANDLER: INCLUDES PREPARATION, WETTING, STRIPPING, REMOVAL, SCRAPPING, VACUUMING, BAGGING AND DISPOSING OF ALL …ASBE0005-005 | $23.52 | $36.89 | CA20260020 Mod 5 |
| Building, Highway, Heavy | ASBESTOS REMOVAL LABORER SCOPE OF WORK: INCLUDES SITE MOBILIZATION, INITIAL SITE CLEANUP, SITE PREPARATION, REMOVAL OF ASBESTOS-CONTAINING MATERIAL AND TOXIC …LABO0300-005 | $46.48 | $72.41 | CA20260020 Mod 5 |
Davis-Bacon rates from SAM.gov, read October 25, 2026. Our federal totals are base plus fringe; DOL prints no total. California Davis-Bacon changes
How Kern County compares
The main asbestos and lead abatement laborer rate in every county that has one, and how the pay splits here and in the nearest counties. All bars use the same scale.
Every county in California
Base wage and fringe benefits, nearby
- Kern Countybase $49.20$78.54
- Tulare Countybase $39.65 · Area 2$71.96
- Ventura Countybase $49.20$78.54
- Los Angeles Countybase $49.20$78.54
Asbestos & Lead Abatement Laborer rates in nearby counties
Current DIR rates. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.
DIR's asbestos and lead abatement laborer rates for Kern County are the same as in 11 other counties: Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and 3 more.
| County | Classification | Base wage | Total rate | vs Kern County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County | Asbestos and Lead Abatement Worker | $49.20 | $78.54 | |
| Ventura County | Asbestos and Lead Abatement Worker | $49.20 | $78.54 | same |
| Los Angeles County | Asbestos and Lead Abatement Worker | $49.20 | $78.54 | same |
| Santa Barbara County | Asbestos and Lead Abatement Worker | $49.20 | $78.54 | same |
| San Luis Obispo County | Asbestos and Lead Abatement Worker | $49.20 | $78.54 | same |
| Tulare County | Asbestos and Lead Removal Worker (Area 2) | $39.65 | $71.96 | −$6.58 |
| Kings County | Asbestos and Lead Removal Worker (Area 2) | $39.65 | $71.96 | −$6.58 |
California asbestos and lead abatement laborer prevailing wage by county, with a map
Footnotes on this rate
DIR's footnotes, in DIR's words. Several change the rate itself: zone pay, a percentage added to the total, or which overtime hours get which rate.
- a Includes an amount for supplemental dues.
- b Includes amounts for Center for Contract Compliance, Contract Administration Fund, Industry Fund, and Laborers' Trust Administrative Trust Fund.
- c Saturdays in the same work week may be worked at straight-time if the job is shut down during the normal work week due to inclement weather, or reasons beyond the control of the employer.
DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.
More from DIR on this rate
- Holidays (DIR PDF)
- Scope of work: which tasks this rate covers
- Travel and subsistence
- Apprentice rates: DIR publishes these separately, by program. Look them up on DIR.
Are you being paid this rate?
Add your hourly wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $78.54. Plan payments only count if the money goes into the plan; your pay stub won't show them, but plan statements will. The training amount goes to the California Apprenticeship Council or an apprenticeship program, not to you. Check a week of pay.
Contractors on most public works jobs file certified payroll with the state, and anyone can look it up in DIR's CPR public search. If your total comes up short, you can file a public works complaint with the California Labor Commissioner.
Source
California Department of Industrial Relations, general prevailing wage determination SC-102-882-1-2026-1, page 1: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Southern/SC-102-882-1.pdf
Each figure is copied from DIR's file and checked by a second, separate reader. How we check · How to read a determination · Download Kern County as CSV · Report an error