Do carpenters make more in Decatur or Chicago?

Decatur pays more: the median is $87,220 in Decatur and $80,440 in Chicago, a 8% difference.

Carpenter salary in Decatur, IL

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Decatur, IL area earn a median of $87,220 a year, or $41.93 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $118,460 a year. That's 10% more than the Illinois median of $79,000.

Median yearly pay$87,220

Bottom 10% under$50,050Top 10% over$118,460

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $24.06/hr
Jobs in this area: 180
After cost of living: $98,640
Median hourly pay: $41.93/hr
vs U.S. median: +44%
vs Illinois median: +10%
Mean (average) pay: $88,510 a year · $42.56 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 19500, Decatur, IL). 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 Decatur, IL 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	$24.06	$50,050
25th percentile	$30.45	$63,330
Median (50th)	$41.93	$87,220
75th percentile	$53.17	$110,590
90th percentile	$56.95	$118,460

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

How Decatur, IL compares

Decatur ranks 2nd of 12 Illinois metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are less concentrated in the Decatur area than nationally: 3.9 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.90 times the U.S. share.

Other Illinois metro areas

Other trades in Decatur, IL

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Decatur or Chicago?: Decatur pays more: the median is $87,220 in Decatur and $80,440 in Chicago, 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 19500 (Decatur, IL). 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 (88.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures