Carpenter Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Carpenters earn a median of $60,580 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 19% above the $50,980 US median across all occupations. That works out at $29.12/hr. The middle half earn between $48,510 and $76,830. The top 10% earn $99,910 or more.

The median hourly wage for carpenters is $29.12 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $60,580 annual median works out to about $5,050 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of carpenters earn less than $40,410 a year and the bottom quarter less than $48,510 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Rarely. Even the 90th percentile is $99,910, so fewer than 10% of carpenters earn $100,000 or more (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No state's median reaches $100,000; the highest is Hawaii at $85,280.

The highest state medians for Carpenters are Hawaii ($85,280), Illinois ($79,000), California ($75,920) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Adjusted for local prices using BEA Regional Price Parities, Illinois moves to the top at $79,033.

BLS does not split carpenters' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $99,910, against a median of $60,580 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are Hawaii ($85,280), Illinois ($79,000), California ($75,920). BLS also counts a specialty career inside this occupation (aging-in-place specialist), which shares its federal pay figures.

No. A bachelor's degree is not the norm: BLS reports a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for Carpenters. BLS also lists apprenticeship as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 52.4% hold high school diploma or the equivalent (such as a ged).

It is stable rather than fast-growing: employment is projected to change 3.9% over 2025–2035, about the same as the 3.5% projected across all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 62,800 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Carpenters construct, repair, and install building frameworks and structures made from wood and other materials. A core O*NET task: measure and mark cutting lines on materials, using a ruler, pencil, chalk, and marking gauge. Employers most often ask for Accounting software, Office suite software, Operating system software.

Yes, for most. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 37% of carpenters usually work more than 40 hours a week, 63% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 52% say their schedule is regular and 48% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Carpenters highest on the Realistic and Conventional interest areas, so the work mixes hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ISTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

There is no required programme. On-the-job entry has no fixed length. A registered apprenticeship typically runs 3 to 4 years and requires at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning under the federal time-based standard. Associate degrees in carpentry vary in length.

Not a state license. Working as a carpenter for an employer is not licensed anywhere in the United States. Contracting as a carpenter is licensed in many states, and the thresholds differ. California requires a licence once a job requires a building permit, uses employee labor, or exceeds $1,000 in labor and materials, and issues carpentry work under the C-5 Framing and Rough Carpentry classification or the broader B General Building classification. Other states set different dollar thresholds, license at city or county level, or do not license residential contractors at all. The practical rule is that the licence attaches to who signs the contract, not to who swings the hammer.

Women make up 3.1% of carpenters, against 47.1% of all employed people: a heavily male-dominated occupation. 20.5% are 55 or older, close to the 23.2% across all jobs. The median worker is 41.5 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.