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Carpenter Salary in the US: Hourly and Annual Pay

What US carpenters earn: 2024 federal wage data from low to high, what moves pay (union, state, specialty), and how apprentices get paid.

By the Salary Atlas editorial team · Published

The typical US carpenter earns a median of $28.51 an hour, according to the most recent national figures on CareerOneStop's Salary Finder, which draws on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data for 2024. The low end of the range is $18.64 an hour and the high end is $47.30. Where you land depends mostly on where you work, whether you are union, what kind of carpentry you do and how many hours the season gives you.

Below, we break the numbers into annual pay, explain why two carpenters in the same city can earn very different amounts, and show how apprentices are paid while they learn.

TL;DR

  • The 2024 national wage range for carpenters runs from $18.64 (low) through $28.51 (median) to $47.30 (high) per hour.
  • On a full-time schedule of 2,080 hours, that works out to roughly $38,800, $59,300 and $98,400 a year. This is our own arithmetic, not a published annual figure.
  • Union status, state, specialty and overtime explain most of the gap between low and high earners.
  • Apprentices are paid from day one, and Registered Apprenticeship wages rise as skills grow.
  • Be wary of salary pages quoting a single average: they often mix self-reported, part-time and scraped numbers.

Table of Contents

What carpenters earn per hour and per year

The cleanest way to read carpenter pay is as a range, not a single number. The table below uses the national row for carpenters (occupation code 47-2031) from CareerOneStop's Salary Finder, which reports the 2024 figures. The annual column is our conversion at 2,080 paid hours a year (40 hours for 52 weeks).

Point in the rangeHourlyAnnual, full-time equivalent
Low$18.64about $38,800
Median$28.51about $59,300
High$47.30about $98,400
The median is the middle: half of carpenters earn less, half earn more. It is usually a better guide than the average, because a handful of very high earners can pull an average up. If you want to see how the median is calculated, our guide on how to calculate a median wage walks through it in four steps.

Two cautions about the annual column. First, construction is seasonal in much of the country, so a carpenter who loses weeks to winter or gaps between jobs will take home less than the full-time equivalent. Second, hourly wage is not total compensation. Union packages, health coverage and retirement contributions can add real value that never shows up in a wage table.

What carpenters earn per hour and per year, overview diagram

Why you see so many different carpenter salary numbers

Search for this topic and you will find averages from about $20 an hour to about $26 to $40 an hour, plus annual figures anywhere from the low $40,000s to $60,000. They are not all wrong. They measure different things.

  • Government survey data. The BLS wage program surveys employers and reports percentiles by occupation, state and metro area. It does not rely on people typing in their own pay.
  • Self-reported or scraped data. Some sites average job postings or user submissions. Postings advertise starting offers, and user submissions skew toward whoever chooses to post.
  • Part-time or narrowed samples. A figure for part-time carpenters, or for one employer, is not a national carpenter wage.
  • Different years. Wages move. A figure from two or three years ago will understate today's pay in most markets.
When you compare numbers, check three things: who collected them, which year they describe and whether they are a median, a mean or a percentile. Our walkthrough on finding BLS salary data by job and state explains the difference between mean, median and percentiles and where to look each up.

What moves a carpenter's pay

State and metro area

The national row is only the starting point. CareerOneStop publishes the same carpenter table for each state, and the state rows can sit well above or below the national line. Large metro areas with high living costs and heavy construction demand tend to pay more, and rural markets tend to pay less, but you should check the actual state and metro figures rather than assume. Pull up your state on the Salary Finder for carpenters and compare its low, median and high with the national numbers above.

Union or non-union

Union membership is one of the biggest levers. According to the Department of Labor's apprenticeship site, unionized carpenters often have access to structured training centers, higher prevailing wage rates and standardized benefits compared with some non-union residential construction settings. The word to notice is "often": it varies by local, by region and by employer.

Specialty

The national carpenter category covers a lot of different work. Rough framing, finish carpentry, formwork for concrete, commercial interiors and remodeling all call for different skills and are paid differently. We do not have a source breaking carpenter wages down by specialty, so we will not invent one. As a rule of thumb, work that needs precision, scarce skills or a license usually pays more than high-volume production work, but check local job postings and union scales for your specialty.

Hours, overtime and the type of employer

A carpenter on a commercial project with scheduled overtime can earn far more than the base rate implies. A carpenter in a slow residential market may work fewer paid hours than 2,080. Employer type matters too: large general contractors, specialty subcontractors, remodeling firms and self-employed carpenters all structure pay differently.

Experience and credentials

The low end of the range generally reflects entry-level pay, and the upper end reflects experienced carpenters, foremen and specialists. Lead and supervisory roles tend to sit at the top of any trade's wage scale.

Can a carpenter make $100,000 a year?

It is possible, but it is not the typical path. Our conversion of the $47.30 high-end hourly rate gives about $98,400 for a full-time year, which is just under $100,000. To cross the line, a carpenter generally needs some combination of the following:

  • A top-paying market and a strong union or prevailing-wage scale.
  • Regular overtime, which pays above the base rate.
  • A move into foreman, superintendent or estimator work.
  • Running a business, where income depends on bids, margins and steady work, and where costs and risk come with it.
For self-employed carpenters, thinking about pricing matters as much as the wage figures. An hourly rate that looks high can shrink after insurance, tools, vehicle costs and idle time. If you are weighing hourly billing against pricing by project, this explainer on comparing hourly rates and project pricing is a useful way to frame the tradeoff.

Is carpentry well paid?

Compared with the whole workforce, a median of $28.51 an hour is a solid wage for a job that typically does not require a college degree. The Department of Labor describes the typical entry path as a high school diploma plus on-the-job or apprenticeship training. The tradeoff is physical work, weather exposure, injury risk and income that can swing with the construction cycle.

It looks better when you count what you do not pay. A four-year degree can bring debt before the first paycheck. Carpenters on the apprenticeship route earn while they train.

How apprentices get paid

The Department of Labor says Registered Apprenticeship combines paid work experience with a mentor, progressive wage increases and formal technical instruction. In practice, that means an apprentice carpenter starts below the journey-level rate and steps up as hours and skills accumulate.

There is a useful data point on how much those raises can add up to. In a Department of Labor study of apprentices in the American Apprenticeship Initiative, wages rose 27 percent on average, from about $18 an hour to $23 an hour, with larger gains in longer programs such as construction and manufacturing. That figure covers all AAI occupations, not carpenters alone, so treat it as a sign of the pattern rather than a carpenter pay scale.

If you are starting out, ask any program these questions:

  • What is the starting wage, and what are the scheduled raises?
  • How many years does the program run, and how many classroom hours are included?
  • Are health and retirement benefits included during the apprenticeship?
  • What is the pay at completion, and what does the local journey-level rate look like?

The carpenter job outlook

Pay is only part of the picture. Before committing to a trade, look at how many openings the occupation is projected to have in your state. Many readers confuse a growth rate with the number of openings, and the two can tell very different stories. Our explainer on job outlook versus job growth shows how to read both and why you should check your state first.

Perspective: read the range, not the average

We built Salary Atlas around a simple rule: every wage figure should link back to where it came from, and nothing should be estimated or invented. Carpenter pay is a good test of that rule, because the web is full of confident single numbers that cannot be traced to a survey.

Our advice is to use government percentiles as your anchor and then adjust for your own situation. If you are a job seeker, compare the median for your state with the offer in front of you, and use the high end to see what experience and specialization might be worth. If you are an employer, the median tells you what the market considers normal, and the gap between median and high tells you how much room skill commands. If you are a career advisor, show students the full range, including the seasonal and physical realities that a wage table cannot show.

We also think a trade deserves honesty in both directions. A median near $28.51 an hour is respectable, and a path to six figures exists, but it is the exception and usually involves overtime, leadership or ownership. Anyone who promises more without a source is selling something.

, Joelen Zyoktova

Check your own number

Salary Atlas publishes US wage data by job title, percentile, state and experience level, drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with no paywall and no signup. Every figure links to its source, and we refresh the data annually. To see how we present an occupation page, look at our software developer salary page, or start from the Salary Atlas home page to explore other jobs.

A practical way to benchmark a carpenter offer

Here is a quick routine for a job seeker or hiring manager:

  • Find the state row for carpenters (code 47-2031) and note the low, median and high hourly figures.
  • Place the offer on that range. An offer near the low end is common for entry-level roles; an offer near the median suits a few years of experience.
  • Ask what the hourly rate excludes: overtime rules, per diem, tools, health coverage, retirement contributions and paid time off.
  • Estimate real hours. Multiply the hourly rate by the hours you realistically expect, not 2,080 by default.
  • Check the year on every number you use, and prefer sources that show it.
If you are an employer setting pay, remember that the median describes what workers already earn across the market. Candidates with specialty skills or supervisory experience will expect the upper part of the range.

FAQ

What is the highest pay for a carpenter?

The high end of the national range for 2024 was $47.30 an hour on CareerOneStop's carpenter wage table, about $98,400 for a full-time year by our conversion. Individual carpenters can earn more through overtime, supervisory roles or owning a business. Pay at the top also varies a lot by state and metro area.

Is a carpenter well paid?

A national median of $28.51 an hour is a solid wage for a trade that typically starts with a high school diploma and paid training. The tradeoffs are seasonal work, physical demands and income that can vary by market. Carpenters in union programs often get structured training and standardized benefits, which improves total compensation.

Can a carpenter make $100,000 a year?

Yes, but it is not typical. Full-time work at the top national hourly rate comes to roughly $98,400, so reaching $100,000 usually takes overtime, a high-paying market, a foreman role or running your own firm. Self-employed carpenters should subtract business costs before comparing their income with a wage.

Do apprentice carpenters get paid?

Yes. Registered Apprenticeships are paid from the start, and wages rise as apprentices gain skills alongside formal technical instruction. The starting rate and the schedule of raises depend on the program, so ask for both in writing before you sign.

Sources

Recommended

Occupation wage figures on Salary Atlas come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Figures in this article that are not linked to a source are estimates. See our methodology.