Do carpenters make more in Boulder or Denver?

Denver pays more: the median is $59,760 in Boulder and $64,910 in Denver, a 8% difference.

Carpenter salary in Boulder, CO

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Boulder, CO area earn a median of $59,760 a year, or $28.73 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $81,310 a year. Statewide, carpenters earn a median of $62,830; Boulder is 5% below it.

Median yearly pay$59,760

Bottom 10% under$42,670Top 10% over$81,310

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $20.51/hr
Jobs in this area: 540
After cost of living: $56,810
Median hourly pay: $28.73/hr
vs U.S. median: −1%
vs Colorado median: −5%
Mean (average) pay: $63,570 a year · $30.56 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 14500, Boulder, CO). 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 Boulder, CO 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	$20.51	$42,670
25th percentile	$23.92	$49,750
Median (50th)	$28.73	$59,760
75th percentile	$35.50	$73,840
90th percentile	$39.09	$81,310

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

How Boulder, CO compares

Boulder ranks 3rd of 7 Colorado metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are less concentrated in the Boulder area than nationally: 2.8 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.65 times the U.S. share.

Other Colorado metro areas

Other trades in Boulder, CO

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Plumber Diesel mechanic Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Boulder or Denver?: Denver pays more: the median is $59,760 in Boulder and $64,910 in Denver, a 8% 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 14500 (Boulder, CO). 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 (105.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures