Carpenters salary in the US
From the median paycheck to the top 10%, this page breaks down earnings for carpenters using American Community Survey records.
How much do carpenters earn?
If you lined up all carpenters by pay, the person in the middle would earn about $43,571 a year — 17% less than the $52,508 median for all US earners aged 25 and older. It finishes 118th of 171 on median pay — below the halfway mark but clear of the lowest-paid groups. That estimate rests on 52,369 individual Census survey responses from workers 25 and up.
| Position | Annual earnings |
|---|---|
| Top 10% start at | $91,373 |
| Top 25% start at | $63,961 |
| Median (top 50%) | $43,571 |
| Bottom 25% earn below | $26,237 |
How wide is the pay range?
The top 25% of carpenters earn at least $63,961, and the top 10% start near $91,373 — about 2.1 times the median. On the lower side, 25% reported $26,237 or less. These are annual totals, so part-time schedules and partial years pull this number down. Put differently, the middle earner makes 1.7× what someone at the 25th percentile does.
Earnings by age
Earnings build steadily with age, from a median of $41,763 at 25–34 to $46,699 at 45–54 (+12%). Later on, earnings ease to $28,152 for workers 65+, a 40% step down that tracks the shift to part-time work.
Men and women
By sex, the medians are $43,993 (men) and $30,550 (women) — a 31% difference. Women make up roughly 2% of the survey records here (an unweighted count, so treat it as approximate). The comparison isn't like-for-like on hours or seniority, so read it as a description rather than a pay-equity measure.
| Group | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| Men | $43,993 | 51,208 |
| Women | $30,550 | 1,161 |
Does education change the pay?
From a high school education or less to a professional degree, the median rises from $41,979 to $55,860, a 33% gap. The most common credential in the sample is a high school education or less, with 34,182 records. Thin cells (under 100 records) aren't shown.
| Education | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| High school or less | $41,979 | 34,182 |
| Some college / associate | $47,226 | 13,699 |
| Bachelor's | $47,659 | 3,697 |
| Master's | $44,150 | 636 |
| Professional degree | $55,860 | 105 |
| Doctorate | Not shown (<100 records) | 50 |
Where the most work, and what they earn there
The five states with the most carpenters in the survey are California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania. The state medians range from $36,549 in Texas up to $50,375 in Pennsylvania. No cost-of-living adjustment is applied. In all, 50 states clear the 100-record bar for a state-level median.
| State | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| California | $49,646 | 4,972 |
| Texas | $36,549 | 4,486 |
| New York | $48,041 | 3,055 |
| Florida | $37,781 | 3,001 |
| Pennsylvania | $50,375 | 2,313 |
Occupations with similar pay
Similar typical earnings show up for bookkeepers and accounting clerks ($44,078), sales and related workers, all other ($44,150), billing and posting clerks ($42,641), and miscellaneous production workers, including equipment operators and tenders ($41,763). They aren't interchangeable careers, though the middle of the pay distribution is close.
| Occupation | Median earnings | vs. this job |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeepers and Accounting Clerks | $44,078 | +1% |
| Sales And Related Workers, All Other | $44,150 | +1% |
| Billing And Posting Clerks | $42,641 | −2% |
| Miscellaneous Production Workers, Including Equipment Operators And Tenders | $41,763 | −4% |
| Industrial Truck And Tractor Operators | $40,929 | −6% |
About these figures
A note on definitions: figures cover everyone 25+ with earnings in this occupation over 2020–2024, inflation-adjusted to 2024, full-time or not. Medians are weighted to the US population; suppressed cells are those under 100 records. The occupation total is 52,369 records.
See where your pay ranks among carpenters
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Open the calculatorSource: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) — personal earnings (PERNP) in 2024 dollars, person-weighted
Reference statistics only — not financial advice.