Do carpenters make more in Iowa City or Des Moines?

Des Moines pays more: the median is $49,680 in Iowa City and $61,360 in Des Moines, a 19% difference.

Carpenter salary in Iowa City, IA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Iowa City, IA area earn a median of $49,680 a year, or $23.89 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $71,880. That's 14% less than the Iowa median of $57,710.

Median yearly pay$49,680

Bottom 10% under$37,060Top 10% over$71,880

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $17.82/hr
Jobs in this area: 360
After cost of living: $54,290
Median hourly pay: $23.89/hr
vs U.S. median: −18%
vs Iowa median: −14%
Mean (average) pay: $54,090 a year · $26.00 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 26980, Iowa City, IA). 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 Iowa City, IA 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	$17.82	$37,060
25th percentile	$21.98	$45,720
Median (50th)	$23.89	$49,680
75th percentile	$29.70	$61,770
90th percentile	$34.56	$71,880

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

How Iowa City, IA compares

Iowa City has the lowest carpenter median of the 9 Iowa metro areas with published pay.
Carpenters are less concentrated in the Iowa City area than nationally: 3.8 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.89 times the U.S. share.

Other Iowa metro areas

Other trades in Iowa City, IA

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Iowa City or Des Moines?: Des Moines pays more: the median is $49,680 in Iowa City and $61,360 in Des Moines, 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 26980 (Iowa City, IA). 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 (91.5, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures