Isn't a lot of construction work done by poor migrant workers who live in dirty dorms provided by their contracting company? I've seen this in much of the rest of the world, even in places like Sweden where the workers are often from the other side of the Baltic. I'd be surprised if the US was very different in this regard.
Construction workers don't make a lot of money, but they aren't the poor migrant workers living in dirty dorms. They are the working class.
My uncle was doing construction, then just decided to start his own construction business rather than work for someone else, and makes very very good money doing that.
Every year the US Dept of Labor produces the Occupational Outlook Handbook which contains information about occupations in the US. Salaries, number employees, job outlook, etc. These are median salaries.
Then prepare to be surprised, it is nothing like that here in 99.999% of cases. The average american construction worker lives in a house or apartment comparable to any other working class / middle class person, owns a vehicle, etc.
In the American Southwest, much of the construction and landscaping work, especially odd jobs, is done by immigrants, usually from Latin America.
Historically, construction has been seen as a union job, and that's probably still true in certain parts of the U.S. and in certain specializations.
As far as housing arrangements, I'm not positive, but I do believe immigrants tend to pack in more people per square foot of an apartment. I have not heard of dorm-style arrangements run by employers.
