Carpenters · SOC 47-2031

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Carpenterss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for carpenters. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 390 metro areas

Carpenters: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Kankakee, IL	$95,280	120	2.7
2	Urban Honolulu, HI	$94,310	3,120	7.0
3	Michigan City-La Porte, IN	$91,970	260	6.3
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$89,200	14,010	5.9
5	Decatur, IL	$87,220	180	3.9
6	Fairbanks-College, AK	$84,970	280	7.7
7	Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	$84,430	650	6.9
8	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$82,110	700	9.4
9	Napa, CA	$80,590	650	8.4
10	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$80,520	2,150	10.5
11	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$80,440	14,220	3.2
12	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$80,190	4,460	3.9
13	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$77,690	700	7.1
14	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$77,220	820	6.7
15	Springfield, IL	$76,970	290	2.9
16	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$76,410	14,970	7.2
17	Vallejo, CA	$76,220	660	4.6
18	Yuba City, CA	$76,100	220	4.4
19	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$75,740	30,600	4.9
20	Springfield, MA	$75,520	660	3.3
21	Bloomington, IL	$75,470	170	1.9
22	Janesville-Beloit, WI	$75,390	360	5.2
23	Peoria, IL	$75,280	780	4.7
24	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$75,210	12,720	4.7
25	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$75,140	1,100	5.5

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Carpenters overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.