Do carpenters make more in Tuscaloosa or Birmingham?

Birmingham pays more: the median is $48,870 in Tuscaloosa and $50,400 in Birmingham, a 3% difference.

Carpenter salary in Tuscaloosa, AL

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Tuscaloosa, AL area earn a median of $48,870 a year, or $23.49 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $59,900. Across all of Alabama, the median is $48,220, so Tuscaloosa pays 1% more than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$48,870

Bottom 10% under$36,190Top 10% over$59,900

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $17.40/hr
Jobs in this area: 260
After cost of living: $55,710
Median hourly pay: $23.49/hr
vs U.S. median: −19%
vs Alabama median: +1%
Mean (average) pay: $49,650 a year · $23.87 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 46220, Tuscaloosa, AL). Excludes self-employed carpenters. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What carpenters in Tuscaloosa, AL earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

Percentile	Hourly	Yearly
10th percentile	$17.40	$36,190
25th percentile	$20.52	$42,670
Median (50th)	$23.49	$48,870
75th percentile	$27.84	$57,900
90th percentile	$28.80	$59,900

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Tuscaloosa, AL compares

Tuscaloosa ranks 6th of 13 Alabama metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are less concentrated in the Tuscaloosa area than nationally: 2.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.55 times the U.S. share.

Other Alabama metro areas

Other trades in Tuscaloosa, AL

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Lineman Plumber Diesel mechanic Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Ironworker Millwright

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Tuscaloosa or Birmingham?: Birmingham pays more: the median is $48,870 in Tuscaloosa and $50,400 in Birmingham, a 3% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 47-2031 (Carpenters), area code 46220 (Tuscaloosa, AL). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed carpenters and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (87.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures