TradeSalary

Carpenter salary in Chico, CA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Chico, CA area earn a median of $72,290 a year, or $34.75 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $116,130. Statewide, carpenters earn a median of $75,920; Chico is 5% below it.

Median yearly pay$72,290
Bottom 10% under$47,290Top 10% over$116,130
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$22.73/hr
Jobs in this area
390
After cost of living
$71,430
Median hourly pay
$34.75/hr
vs U.S. median
+19%
vs California median
−5%
Mean (average) pay
$72,380 a year · $34.80 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 17020, Chico, CA). 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 Chico, CA 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.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$22.73$47,290
25th percentile$24.79$51,570
Median (50th)$34.75$72,290
75th percentile$38.46$79,990
90th percentile$55.83$116,130

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

How Chico, CA compares

  • Chico ranks 18th of 25 California metro areas for carpenter pay.
  • Carpenters are more concentrated in the Chico area than nationally: 5.0 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.2 times the U.S. share.

Other California metro areas

Other trades in Chico, CA

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Chico or San Francisco?
San Francisco pays more: the median is $72,290 in Chico and $89,200 in San Francisco, a 19% 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 17020 (Chico, CA). 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 (101.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures