Carpenters salary in the United States
$59,310USD/YR
Carpenters in the United States earn a median of $59,310 a year, about $28.51 an hour.
SOURCE·US Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics·Public domain (US Government work)·REVIEWED MAY 2024
Why there is no second reading here
Every other country on this site carries two figures: what the wage converts to at the exchange rate, and what it is worth once local prices are accounted for. American pay is already quoted in the currency and at the price level both conversions are measured against, so the two readings are the same number — $59,310. The gap opens up the moment you compare it with anywhere else.
See Carpenter read both ways in every country that publishes it →
How United States arrived at this figure, and what it is not
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for the reference period MAY 2024. We take the occupation row as released and change nothing in it.
- Employer payroll survey of ~1.1m establishments
- Where the agency publishes a distribution we carry the whole distribution, because a single average throws away the part of the answer people are actually asking about.
- The wage is then read twice: converted at the European Central Bank reference rate for 2026-07-29, and divided by the World Bank purchasing-power conversion factor for USA. Both readings are printed; neither is presented as the answer.
- Countries measure pay differently. A tax return, an employer payroll survey, a PAYE sample and a household survey are four different instruments, and gaps of a few per cent between countries are the instruments, not the wages.
converted = USD 59,310 / FX(USD->USD) adjusted = USD 59,310 / PPP(USA) disagreement = adjusted / converted
Where it pays more in the United States
Median pay for this occupation by area, highest-employing first.
| Area | Type | Median | vs national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | State | $74,820 | +26% |
| New York | State | $63,660 | +7% |
| Florida | State | $48,080 | -19% |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | Metro | $69,680 | +17% |
| Texas | State | $48,150 | -19% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | Metro | $73,840 | +24% |
| Pennsylvania | State | $59,240 | -0% |
| Washington | State | $73,260 | +24% |
| Illinois | State | $76,410 | +29% |
| Michigan | State | $61,410 | +4% |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | Metro | $76,510 | +29% |
| Massachusetts | State | $71,110 | +20% |
| Virginia | State | $50,220 | -15% |
| Arizona | State | $54,540 | -8% |
| Ohio | State | $58,310 | -2% |
| Oregon | State | $61,170 | +3% |
| Missouri | State | $61,150 | +3% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | Metro | $65,050 | +10% |
| Wisconsin | State | $60,390 | +2% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | Metro | $76,760 | +29% |
| Indiana | State | $60,510 | +2% |
| Minnesota | State | $64,650 | +9% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | Metro | $59,030 | -0% |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | Metro | $80,950 | +36% |
| Utah | State | $51,720 | -13% |
Regional figures come from the same release as the national one. Where an area is missing, the source suppressed it for sample-size reasons rather than reporting an unreliable estimate.
Every figure this page rests on
| Reading | USD | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Median | $59,310 | The middle earner |
| Mean | $64,040 | Pulled up by top earners |
| 10th percentile | $38,760 | One in ten earns less |
| 25th percentile | $47,550 | — |
| 75th percentile | $75,620 | — |
| 90th percentile | $98,370 | One in ten earns more |
| Hourly | $28.51 | As published |
| Employed in this occupation | 697,740 | Head count in the release |
US Bureau of Labor Statistics · MAY 2024
SOURCE·US Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics·Public domain (US Government work)·REVIEWED MAY 2024
What people ask next
- How much do carpenters earn in the United States?
- The median is $59,310 a year, about $28.51 an hour, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024.
- Is that figure before or after tax?
- Before. Every figure on this page is gross pay as the statistics agency published it — income tax, social contributions and any deductions come off afterwards, and they differ enough between countries that we do not model them.
Related occupations in the United States
- Construction Laborers $46,730
- First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers $78,690
- Electricians $62,350
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators $58,710
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters $62,970
- Painters, Construction and Maintenance $48,660
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers $54,660
- Highway Maintenance Workers $49,070
- Construction and Building Inspectors $72,120
- Roofers $50,970
- Sheet Metal Workers $60,850
- Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers $58,140
