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Current BLS California employee wages for Brickmasons and Blockmasons, SOC 47-2021; excludes premium pay and benefits, stonemasons and concrete finishers.
Last updated October 21, 2026. Rates are market estimates, not guarantees.
Career guide · California
Start with brick-and-block practice in Tracy or Costa Mesa, then build experience on supervised masonry crews constructing walls and openings.
Learn to set brick and concrete block, read wall drawings and keep courses straight. California routes include BAC Local 3's bricklayer preparation and Orange Coast College's masonry certificate. Start with layout, mortar and joints, then develop reinforcement and water-management skills. Match your learning to wall construction before taking on repair or veneer assignments. Learn how those details shape each course.
A good share of those postings are open to people at entry level with no licence yet. Live counts move week to week — the training routes below do not.
The trade is not one job, it is three, and they are separated by what you are legally allowed to do rather than by how good you are. Knowing which level you are aiming at tells you which hours, which exam and which certificates actually matter.
Paid from day one, working under a licensed hand while you bank the hours that lead to your own card.
Qualified to work on your own. This is the level nearly every job ad is really asking for, and the biggest pay step you will ever get.
You run work rather than just do it: crews across sites, permits where the trade allows, and the option of qualifying a business of your own.
Masons in California start around $23.77 an hour and reach $52.02 at the top of the trade. Once you are working unsupervised the middle of the market sits near $33.20.
See the full mason salary guide →Employees work under their employer's license. Contracting requires licensing at $1,000 total, or with permits or employees. Employers provide hazard training and protections. C-29 covers masonry contracting, including brick and block.
Bricklayer preparation in Tracy introduces tools and wall building. College study connects masonry with residential code and concrete. Safety instruction develops the hazard knowledge needed for cutting and elevated work.
Certificates get you past the first filter. These are the things foremen and recruiters decide on, and they change depending on which level you are applying at.
No signed record of your supervised hours
Long gaps with no explanation at all
Leaving three or four shops inside a year
No OSHA card when the site requires one
Certifications that lapsed and were never renewed
Listing a licence as 'in progress' as though it is held
No supervisor anyone can call
The realistic route, start to finish. Most of it is paid — you are earning from the point you are taken on, not from the point you are licensed.
Sorted by payback speed.
| Certification | Rate bump | Extra / year | Cost | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAC Local 4 Bricklayer Apprenticeship (journeyperson) | +$5.51 | $11,461 | $0 | 0 weeks |
| BAC Local 3 Bricklayer Apprenticeship (journeyperson) | +$4.96 | $10,317 | $0 | 0 weeks |
| OSHA 30-Hour Construction | +$1.15 | $2,392 | $159 | 4 weeks |
| OSHA 10-Hour Construction | +$0.38 | $790 | $59 | 4 weeks |
| Supported Scaffold User | +$0.15 | $312 | $35 | 6 weeks |
| ACI Masonry Laboratory Testing Technician | +$0.61 | $1,269 | $715 | 30 weeks |
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