Do carpenters make more in Bay City or Detroit?

Detroit pays more: the median is $55,520 in Bay City and $65,810 in Detroit, a 16% difference.

Carpenter salary in Bay City, MI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Bay City, MI area earn a median of $55,520 a year, or $26.69 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $79,280. Statewide, carpenters earn a median of $61,680; Bay City is 10% below it.

Median yearly pay$55,520

Bottom 10% under$40,230Top 10% over$79,280

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $19.34/hr
Jobs in this area: 80
After cost of living: $60,400
Median hourly pay: $26.69/hr
vs U.S. median: −8%
vs Michigan median: −10%
Mean (average) pay: $56,740 a year · $27.28 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 13020, Bay City, MI). 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 Bay City, MI 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	$19.34	$40,230
25th percentile	$21.58	$44,890
Median (50th)	$26.69	$55,520
75th percentile	$30.95	$64,370
90th percentile	$38.12	$79,280

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

How Bay City, MI compares

Bay City ranks 14th of 16 Michigan metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are less concentrated in the Bay City area than nationally: 2.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.56 times the U.S. share.

Other Michigan metro areas

Other trades in Bay City, MI

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Bay City or Detroit?: Detroit pays more: the median is $55,520 in Bay City and $65,810 in Detroit, a 16% 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 13020 (Bay City, MI). 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 (91.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures