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Tunnel Worker prevailing wage, Southern California (11 counties)

DIR sets the same tunnel worker rates, row for row, in 11 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.

$86.16an hour, total · Group I

$56.45 wage + $29.71 employer payments

On California public works in each of these 11 counties, a Group I tunnel worker must be paid at least $86.16 an hour in total: $56.45 in wages plus $29.71 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $114.385 and Sunday and holiday work is $142.61. DIR puts 15 job titles in Group I, batch plant laborer and bottom lander among them.

DIR general determination SC-23-102-12-2026-1, issued August 22, 2026. Expires June 30, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.

DIR lists 5 tunnel worker rates for each of these counties, from $86.16 to $88.48 an hour. See all of them.

Base wage and fringe: $56.45 + $29.71

The basic hourly rate is the taxable wage. The other lines, usually called fringe benefits, 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 $86.16 or more.

Basic hourly rate (taxable wage)	$56.45
Health and welfare	$9.85
Pension	$12.92
Vacation and holiday (footnote b)	$5.45
Training	$0.80
Other payments	$0.69
Total straight-time hourly rate	$86.16

Straight time covers an 8-hour day.

Davis-Bacon tunnel worker rates in these counties

The counties share DIR's rates, but not always the same federal wage determination. 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).

County	Federal classification	Base + fringe	WD	vs DIR
Imperial County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Inyo County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Kern County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Los Angeles County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Mono County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Orange County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Riverside County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
San Bernardino County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
San Luis Obispo County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Santa Barbara County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Ventura County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match

Tunnel Worker Group I job titles

Work DIR classifies in Group I, copied as printed. The other groups and their rates are in the table below.

Batch Plant Laborer
Bottom Lander
Changehouseman
Dumpman
Outside Dumpman
Loading and Unloading Agitator Cars
Nipper
Pot Tender using mastic or other materials
Rollover Dumpman
Shotcrete Man (helper)
Subsurface Laborer (non-miner)
Swamper/Brakemen (Brakeman and Switchman on tunnel work)
Tool Man
Top Lander
Tunnel Materials Handling Man

Source: Group I, page 2

Scheduled increases

$86.16now$90.17Jul 1, 2027$94.28Jul 1, 2028$98.44Jul 1, 2029

Current rate, DIR Aug 22, 2026Increases DIR has already set

DIR has already set these increases. Work on or after each date is paid the higher rate. DIR often leaves part of an increase "to be allocated to wages and/or employer payments" and confirms the split when it comes due, and it can reduce a scheduled increase in a later notice, so check DIR's increase page before you pay it.

Takes effect	Increase per hour	Total after increase
July 1, 2027	+$4.01	$90.17
July 1, 2028	+$4.11	$94.28
July 1, 2029	+$4.16	$98.44

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

Every tunnel worker rate in Southern California

As DIR lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.

Group V$88.48
Group IV$87.63
Group III$86.94
Group II$86.48
Group I$86.16

Total hourly rate of each tunnel worker classification in Southern California, highest first, split into wage and employer payments.

Classification	Total	Base	Employer payments	Daily OT	Determination
Group I	$86.16	$56.45	$29.71	$114.385	SC-23-102-12-2026-1
Group II 7 jobs in this group Chemical Grout Jetman Chucktender, Cabletender Concrete crew-include Rodders and Spreaders Grout Mixerman Grout Pumpman Operating of Troweling and/or Grouting Machines Vibratorman, Jack Hammer Pneumatic Tools (except driller)	$86.48	$56.77	$29.71	$114.865	SC-23-102-12-2026-1
Group III 16 jobs in this group Blaster, Driller, Powderman Bull Gang Mucker, Trackman Cherry Pickerman Grout Gunman Jackleg Miner Jumbo Man Kemper and other Pneumatic Concrete Placer Operator Micro-Tunneling, Micro-Tunneling Systems Nozzleman Powderman-Primer House Primer Man Sandblaster Segment Erector Steel Form Raiser and Setter Timberman, Retimberman, wood or steel Tunnel Concrete Finisher	$86.94	$57.23	$29.71	$115.555	SC-23-102-12-2026-1
Group IV 4 jobs in this group Shaft and Raise Work Diamond Driller HDPE Membrane Vapor Barrier Welder Miner - Tunnel (hand or machine)	$87.63	$57.92	$29.71	$116.59	SC-23-102-12-2026-1
Group V 1 job in this group Welder, certified as required	$88.48	$58.77	$29.71	$117.865	SC-23-102-12-2026-1

How Southern California compares

The main tunnel worker 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

Wage and employer payments, nearby

Southern Californiabase $56.45$86.16
Ventura Countybase $56.45$86.16
Orange Countybase $56.45$86.16
Kern Countybase $56.45$86.16

Which county is in which tunnel worker group

Every California county with a tunnel worker rate. Counties DIR treats alike share one page; the rest have their own. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.

Counties	Main classification	Total	Base
Northern California, 46 counties: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo, Yuba	Bit grinder, blaster, driller, powderman-heading, cherry pickerman- where car is lifted, concrete finisher in tunnel, concrete/screed man, grout pumpman and potman, gunite and shotcrete gunman and potman, headerman, high pressure nozzleman, miner-tunnel, including top and bottom man on shaft and raise work, nipper, nozzleman on slick line, sandblaster-potman (work assignment interchangeable)	$86.16	$53.39
Southern California, 11 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura	Group I	$86.16	$56.45
San Diego County	Group I	$86.16	$56.45

2 groups of counties with identical DIR rates, and 1 county with rates of its own.

California tunnel worker 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 For classifications within each group, see Page 2.
b Includes an amount per hour worked for supplemental dues.
c All work performed over 12 hours in a single work day shall be paid for at double time (2x).

DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.

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 $86.16. 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-23-102-12-2026-1, page 1: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Southern/SC-023-102-12.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 every California rate as CSV · Report an error