Helpers--Carpenters salary

SOC 47-3012 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$43,780

per year, nationally

Middle half

$36,730–$49,400

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

21,680

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.5%

2,700 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$31,660$57,670

10th: $31,660
25th: $36,730
Median: $43,780
75th: $49,400
90th: $57,670

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where helpers--carpenters earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	New Hampshire	$58,090	104.2	—	—
2	Colorado	$50,900	103.1	200	0.49×
3	Connecticut	$50,460	103.6	200	0.84×
4	Rhode Island	$50,300	102.3	—	—
5	Maine	$50,100	97.0	160	1.84×
6	California	$49,890	110.7	2,670	1.05×
7	Massachusetts	$48,130	105.8	630	1.24×
8	New York	$47,740	107.9	1,110	0.82×
9	Arkansas	$46,800	86.9	100	0.55×
10	Washington	$46,060	107.0	620	1.26×
11	Illinois	$45,660	100.0	—	—
12	Michigan	$44,960	96.2	230	0.38×
13	Ohio	$44,760	92.8	540	0.69×
14	Hawaii	$44,550	110.0	—	—
15	Vermont	$44,550	98.0	200	4.71×
16	New Jersey	$44,040	108.8	840	1.41×
17	Texas	$43,950	97.1	2,270	1.16×
18	Pennsylvania	$43,880	97.6	560	0.66×
19	Virginia	$43,730	101.1	1,200	2.09×
20	Oregon	$43,260	103.4	220	0.82×
21	Indiana	$42,940	93.3	160	0.36×
22	Montana	$42,670	94.6	—	—
23	Idaho	$41,820	95.5	—	—
24	Arizona	$41,540	100.7	—	—
25	Louisiana	$40,900	88.2	860	3.20×
26	North Carolina	$40,540	94.3	650	0.95×
27	Florida	$40,220	103.4	2,120	1.53×
28	Georgia	$40,160	96.3	410	0.60×
29	Iowa	$39,830	87.8	100	0.46×
30	Tennessee	$39,790	91.9	440	0.97×
31	Nebraska	$39,670	90.1	50	0.33×
32	Wisconsin	$39,480	94.1	150	0.38×
33	Maryland	$39,470	105.0	580	1.50×
34	Alaska	$39,210	102.4	90	1.89×
35	Alabama	$38,930	88.8	410	1.39×
36	Kansas	$38,130	90.1	80	0.41×
37	Oklahoma	$38,080	87.8	150	0.64×
38	New Mexico	$37,100	92.2	50	0.44×
39	Nevada	$36,230	100.0	540	2.51×
40	South Carolina	$36,090	93.7	200	0.62×
41	Utah	$35,820	98.9	330	1.36×
42	Kentucky	$35,520	90.2	—	—
43	Mississippi	$35,360	87.0	140	0.87×
44	South Dakota	$34,700	88.6	330	5.14×
45	Delaware	$33,920	99.8	190	2.86×
46	West Virginia	$33,760	89.5	320	3.26×
47	Missouri	$32,420	90.8	50	0.11×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where helpers--carpenters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for helpers--carpenters

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$64,810	113.6	750	0.86×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$62,370	115.6	340	1.03×
3	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$59,090	109.9	50	3.30×
4	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$52,760	103.9	—	—
5	New Haven, CT	$52,760	104.6	40	1.06×
6	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$51,200	105.4	130	0.77×
7	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$50,590	105.1	40	0.93×
8	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$50,540	102.7	40	0.54×
9	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$50,290	101.8	—	—
10	Portland-South Portland, ME	$49,800	101.9	—	—
11	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$49,680	109.4	70	1.97×
12	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$48,850	112.6	1,360	1.03×
13	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$48,530	108.3	—	—
14	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$48,520	91.4	50	1.27×
15	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$48,250	106.9	70	1.20×
16	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$48,250	90.0	90	3.99×
17	Baton Rouge, LA	$47,830	90.8	300	5.17×
18	Reno, NV	$47,430	101.0	150	3.88×
19	Charlottesville, VA	$47,320	99.1	—	—
20	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$46,940	103.6	—	—
21	Knoxville, TN	$46,670	92.6	30	0.53×
22	Lake Charles, LA	$46,510	85.9	50	3.38×
23	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$46,060	111.1	420	1.45×
24	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$45,710	111.9	500	2.32×
25	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$45,690	92.7	50	0.87×
26	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$45,650	98.1	220	1.24×
27	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$45,360	95.4	120	0.75×
28	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$45,040	106.7	190	1.29×
29	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$44,830	98.9	40	1.69×
30	Boise City, ID	$44,820	98.4	—	—
31	Cleveland, OH	$44,760	93.9	90	0.64×
32	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$44,710	100.1	250	0.63×
33	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$44,710	93.6	—	—
34	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$44,630	100.9	350	1.75×
35	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$44,600	98.6	740	1.60×
36	Worcester, MA	$44,470	102.5	50	1.06×
37	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$44,460	95.8	—	—
38	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$44,380	108.9	630	1.45×
39	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$44,300	110.5	80	1.76×
40	Birmingham, AL	$44,120	91.6	130	1.76×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where helpers--carpenters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.