TradeSalary

Carpenter salary in Lexington, KY

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Lexington–Fayette, KY area earn a median of $52,030 a year, or $25.01 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $75,340. Statewide, carpenters earn a median of $52,680; Lexington is 1% below it.

Median yearly pay$52,030
Bottom 10% under$37,660Top 10% over$75,340
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$18.11/hr
Jobs in this area
1,200
After cost of living
$56,010
Median hourly pay
$25.01/hr
vs U.S. median
−14%
vs Kentucky median
−1%
Mean (average) pay
$55,630 a year · $26.74 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 30460, Lexington-Fayette, KY). 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 Lexington, KY 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$18.11$37,660
25th percentile$22.63$47,080
Median (50th)$25.01$52,030
75th percentile$29.61$61,590
90th percentile$36.22$75,340

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

How Lexington, KY compares

  • Lexington ranks 5th of 9 Kentucky metro areas for carpenter pay.
  • Carpenters hold about the same share of jobs in the Lexington area as nationally: 4.2 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Kentucky metro areas

Other trades in Lexington, KY

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Lexington or Cincinnati?
Cincinnati pays more: the median is $52,030 in Lexington and $60,110 in Cincinnati, a 13% 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 30460 (Lexington-Fayette, KY). 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 (92.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures