Skip to content

Home / Illinois / DeKalb County / Laborer

DeKalb County · Laborer

Laborer prevailing wage in DeKalb County, Illinois

$82.10an hour, base + fringes

$45.34 wage + $36.76 fringe benefits · Building

On Illinois public works in DeKalb County, a laborer must be paid at least $82.10 an hour: a $45.34 base wage plus $36.76 in fringe benefits for health and welfare, pension, vacation, training and other insurance. IDOL lists each part but prints no total, so $82.10 is our sum of its columns. Overtime after 8 hours a day, Monday to Friday, is 1.5 times the base wage. This is IDOL's building rate; it lists separate highway rates for this trade in DeKalb County.

IDOL's DeKalb County schedule, posted October 19, 2026, for work performed on or after October 19, 2026. Checked against labor.illinois.gov on October 24, 2026.

IDOL lists 3 laborer rates for DeKalb County, from $82.10 to $89.40 an hour. See all of them.

Base wage and fringe: $45.34 + $36.76

The base wage is the taxable hourly wage. The other lines are the fringe benefits IDOL lists for each hour: health and welfare, pension, vacation, training, and "other insurance", which IDOL's legend defines as the "employer hourly cost for any other type(s) of insurance".

Base wage (taxable)$45.34
Health and welfare$10.20
Pension$25.76
Training$0.80
Base + fringes (our sum; IDOL prints no total)$82.10

Foreman base wage: $46.34 an hour, with the same fringe benefits.

Davis-Bacon laborer rate in DeKalb County

Federally funded or assisted construction here uses the U.S. Department of Labor's wage determinations. When a contract requires both the state rate and the Davis-Bacon rate, paying the higher of the two meets both. The contract documents say which apply.

We don't put a federal figure next to IDOL's here, because the federal determination for this county has no matching classification. The federal rows for this trade are below; match the classification to the work.

ConstructionFederal classificationBase + fringeBaseWD
BuildingLABORER: GENERAL LABORER: CARPENTER TENDER, TOOL CRIBMAN, FIREMAN OR SALAMANDER TENDER, FLAGMAN, GRAVEL BOX MAN, BUMPMAN & SPOTTER, FORM HANDLER, MATERIAL …LABO0032-005$74.45 $41.34 IL20260001 Mod 6
BuildingLABORER GROUP 2 SEMI-SKILLED - HANDLING OF MATERIALS TREATED WITH OIL, CREOSOTE, ASPHALT AND/OR FORIEGN MATERIAL HARMFUL TO SKIN OR CLOTHING; TRACK LABORERS; …LABO0393-001$72.96 $40.54 IL20260001 Mod 6
BuildingLABORERS, GROUP 1 GENERAL LABORER (BOND COUNTY (EXCEPT THE NORTHSIDE))LABO0622-003$64.73 $29.65 IL20260001 Mod 6
BuildingLABORERS, GROUP 3 DYNAMITE MAN (BOND COUNTY (EXCEPT THE NORTHSIDE))LABO0622-003$66.23 $31.15 IL20260001 Mod 6
Highway, HeavyOPERATOR: POWER EQUIPMENT, GROUP 3 BOILERS; BROOMS, ALL POWER PROPELLED; CEMENT SUPPLY TENDER; COMPRESSOR, COMMON RECEIVER (2); CONCRETE MIXER, TWO BAG AND …ENGI0150-015$105.80 $54.75 IL20260011 Mod 2
Highway, HeavyOPERATOR: POWER EQUIPMENT, GROUP 1 ASPHALT PLANT; ASPHALT HEATER AND PLANER COMBINATION; ASPHALT SPREADER; ASPHALT SILO TENDER; AUTOGRADER, GOMACO OR SIMILAR; …ENGI0150-015$107.65 $56.60 IL20260011 Mod 2
Highway, HeavyLABORER, SEWER CONSTRUCTION: GROUP 1 SIGNALMEN TOP LABORERS, AND ALL OTHER LABORERS NOT MENTIONED. (DUPAGE COUNTY)LABO0002-004$88.34 $51.40 IL20260011 Mod 2
Highway, HeavyLABORER: GENERAL LABORER GENERAL LABORER: CARPENTER TENDER, TOOL CRIBMAN, FIREMAN OR SALAMANDER TENDER, FLAGMAN, GRAVEL BOX MAN, BUMPMAN & SPOTTER, FORM …LABO0032-007$83.35 $47.04 IL20260011 Mod 2
Highway, HeavyLABORER GROUP 1 MORTAR MIXERS, HANDLING ASPHALT SHINGLES; SCAFFOLDS; SEWER AND TRENCH WORK (GROUND LEVEL DOWN TO 8 FEET); CATCH BASIN AND MANHOLE DIGGERS, MESH …LABO0075-002$88.34 $51.40 IL20260011 Mod 2
ResidentialLABORERS: PLANTSMANSUIL1996-001$9.00 $9.00 IL20260065 Mod 1

Davis-Bacon rates from SAM.gov, read October 25, 2026. Our federal totals are base plus fringe; DOL prints no total. Illinois Davis-Bacon changes

Holidays

IDOL's DeKalb County schedule: “The following list is considered as those days for which holiday rates of wages for work performed apply: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Veterans Day in some classifications/counties. Generally, any of these holidays which fall on a Sunday is celebrated on the following Monday. This then makes work performed on that Monday payable at the appropriate overtime rate for holiday pay. Common practice in a given local may alter certain days of celebration. If in doubt, please check with IDOL.”

Holiday work is paid at the holiday multiple in the overtime table (2.0× the base wage for this row).

When this rate changes

What each class covers

IDOL's explanation of classes for DeKalb County, copied as printed. The class number on a row decides its rate.

LABORER, SKILLED - HIGHWAY

Individuals engaged in the following types of work, irrespective of the site of the work: asbestos abatement worker, handling of any materials with any foreign matter harmful to skin or clothing, track laborer, cement handlers, chloride handlers, the unloading and loading with steel workers and re-bars, concrete workers wet, tunnel helpers in free air, batch dumpers, mason tenders, kettle and tar men, tank cleaners, plastic installers, scaffold workers, motorized buggies or motorized unit used for wet concrete or handling of building materials, laborers with de-watering systems, sewer workers plus depth, rod and chainmen with technical engineers, rod and chainmen with land surveyors, rod and chainmen with surveyors, vibrator operators, cement silica, clay, fly ash, lime and plasters, handlers (bulk or bag), cofferdam workers plus depth, on concrete paving, placing, cutting and tying of reinforcing, deck hand, dredge hand, and shore laborers, bankmen on floating plant, grade checker, power tools, front end man on chip spreaders, cassion workers plus depth, gunnite nozzle men, lead man on sewer work, welders, cutters, burners and torchmen, chainsaw operators, jackhammer and drill operators, layout man and/or drainage tile layer, steel form setter - street and highway, air tamping hammermen, signal man on crane, concrete saw operator, screedman on asphalt pavers, laborers tending masons with hot material or where foreign materials are used, mortar mixer operators, multiple concrete duct - leadsman, lumen, asphalt raker, curb asphalt machine operator, ready mix scalemen (permanent, portable or temporary plant), laborers handling masterplate or similar materials, laser beam operator, concrete burning machine operator, coring machine operator, plaster tender, underpinning and shoring of buildings, pump men, manhole and catch basin, dirt and stone tamper, hose men on concrete pumps, hazardous waste worker, lead base paint abatement worker, lining of pipe, refusing machine, assisting on direct boring machine, the work of laying watermain, fire hydrants, all mechanical joints to watermain work, sewer worker, and tapping water service and forced lift station mechanical worker. MATERIAL TESTER I: Hand coring and drilling for testing of materials; field inspection of uncured concrete and asphalt. MATERIAL TESTER II: Field inspection of welds, structural steel, fireproofing, masonry, soil, facade, reinforcing steel, formwork, cured concrete, and concrete and asphalt batch plants; adjusting proportions of bituminous mixtures.

LANDSCAPING

Landscaping work falls under the existing classifications for laborer, operating engineer and truck driver. The work performed by landscape plantsman and landscape laborer is covered by the existing classification of laborer. The work performed by landscape operators (regardless of equipment used or its size) is covered by the classifications of operating engineer. The work performed by landscape truck drivers (regardless of size of truck driven) is covered by the classifications of truck driver.

Every laborer rate in DeKalb County

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

  1. LaborerHighway$89.40
  2. Laborer, SkilledHighway$89.40
  3. LaborerBuilding$82.10
Total hourly rate of each laborer classification in DeKalb County, highest first, split into wage and fringe benefits.
Trade and classBase + fringesBaseFringesOT Mon–Fri
LaborerBuilding$82.10 $45.34 $36.76 1.5×
LaborerHighway$89.40 $52.64 $36.76 1.5×
Laborer, SkilledHighway$89.40 $52.64 $36.76 1.5×

How DeKalb County compares

The main 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 Illinois

$55.65Mercer$92.11Boone
DeKalbNearby: Kane $92.11, Kendall $92.11, Lee $82.17Each column is a group of counties with about the same main rate; its height is how many. 18 counties pay more than DeKalb, 1 the same, 82 less.

Wage and fringe benefits, nearby

  1. DeKalb Countybase $45.34$82.10
  2. Kane Countybase $53.00$92.11
  3. Kendall Countybase $53.00$92.11
  4. Lee Countybase $46.47$82.17

Laborer rates in nearby counties

Current IDOL rates. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done. The Act defines “locality” as the county of the physical work, with narrow exceptions (820 ILCS 130/2).

CountyClassificationBase + fringesBasevs DeKalb County
Kane CountyLaborer$92.11 $53.00 +$10.01
Kendall CountyLaborer$92.11 $53.00 +$10.01
Boone CountyLaborer$92.11 $53.00 +$10.01
McHenry CountyLaborer$92.11 $53.00 +$10.01
Lee CountyLaborer (building)$82.17 $46.47 +$0.07
Ogle CountyLaborer (building)$82.17 $46.47 +$0.07
DeKalb CountyLaborer (building)$82.10 $45.34 

Illinois laborer prevailing wage by county, with a map

More from IDOL on this rate

  • DeKalb County schedule (IDOL PDF, page 1)
  • Work that no listed trade covers: IDOL names a neighboring county's classification to use. Call 217-782-1710.
  • Apprentices: IDOL's county schedules list journeyworker and foreman rates only.

All DeKalb County prevailing wage rates

Are you being paid this rate?

Add your base wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $82.10. Your contractor has to post the rates on the job site or give you written notice of them (820 ILCS 130/4(n)), and file a certified payroll with IDOL by the 15th of each month for the month before (820 ILCS 130/5).

A worker paid less than the prevailing rate can sue for the difference (820 ILCS 130/4(g)).

Source

Illinois Department of Labor, prevailing wage rates for DeKalb County, posted October 19, 2026, page 1: labor.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idol/laws-rules/conmed/documents/fy27/20261019/DeKalb.pdf

Each figure is read from IDOL's PDF and checked by a second, separate reader. IDOL prints no total; ours is re-added independently. How we check · Download DeKalb County as CSV · Report an error