Best degree programs for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 6 schools train Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $57,020 median wage, 206,170 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 6 schools train cement masons and concrete finishers, graduating 79 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher. The job pays a median of $57,020 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About cement masons and concrete finishers
Smooth and finish surfaces of poured concrete, such as floors, walks, sidewalks, roads, or curbs using a variety of hand and power tools. Align forms for sidewalks, curbs, or gutters; patch voids; and use saws to cut expansion joints.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 46.0402 | 79 | 100.0% | 6 | $31,641 | $9,500 |
Top 6 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philadelphia Technician Training Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher | 50% | $22,992 | — |
| 2 | College of Southern Nevada Las Vegas, NV Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher | 19% | — | — |
| 3 | Southeast Community College Area Lincoln, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher | 38% | — | — |
| 4 | Southwestern Illinois College Belleville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher | 36% | — | — |
| 5 | Waukesha County Technical College Pewaukee, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher | 44% | — | — |
| 6 | Pennsylvania College of Technology Williamsport, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher | 53% | — | — |
What cement masons and concrete finishers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvanialimited | $61,610 | 5,180 | 0.64× | 2 | 42 |
| Nevadalimited | $61,230 | 3,290 | 1.60× | 1 | 12 |
| Nebraskalimited | $49,510 | 3,200 | 2.36× | 1 | 11 |
| Illinoislimited | $78,170 | 5,890 | 0.73× | 1 | 7 |
| Wisconsinlimited | $64,250 | 4,490 | 1.15× | 1 | 7 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Check the forms that hold the concrete to see that they are properly constructed.
- Set the forms that hold concrete to the desired pitch and depth, and align them.
- Spread, level, and smooth concrete, using rake, shovel, hand or power trowel, hand or power screed, and float.
- Monitor how the wind, heat, or cold affect the curing of the concrete throughout the entire process.
- Mold expansion joints and edges, using edging tools, jointers, and straightedge.
- Signal truck driver to position truck to facilitate pouring concrete, and move chute to direct concrete on forms.
- Direct the casting of the concrete and supervise laborers who use shovels or special tools to spread it.
- Produce rough concrete surface, using broom.
Skills
- Monitoring3.3
- Speaking3.1
- Active Listening3.0
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Mathematics2.6
- Learning Strategies2.4
- Reading Comprehension2.4
- Active Learning2.1
Knowledge areas
- English Language3.7
- Building and Construction3.5
- Mathematics3.1
- Public Safety and Security3.1
- Mechanical2.6
- Administration and Management2.6
Abilities
- Manual Dexterity3.9
- Trunk Strength3.8
- Near Vision3.6
- Multilimb Coordination3.6
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.5
- Control Precision3.5
Core activities
- Handling and Moving Objects4.3
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.3
- Getting Information4.2
- Performing General Physical Activities4.2
- Scheduling Work and Activities4.2
- Controlling Machines and Processes4.2
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Cement Mason
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 46.0402Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Cement Mason?+
No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher, which awarded 79 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Cement Mason?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Building/Construction Finishing. Together they graduate about 79 people a year.
How much do cement masons and concrete finishers earn?+
The median is $57,020 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $39,190 at the 10th percentile to $85,480 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for cement masons and concrete finishers growing?+
BLS projects a +1.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 14,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
6 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do cement masons and concrete finishers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Finisher, Cement Mason, Cement Finisher, Concrete Finisher among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 47-2051.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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