Do carpenters make more in St. Joseph or St. Louis?

St. Louis pays more: the median is $60,150 in St. Joseph and $70,990 in St. Louis, a 15% difference.

Carpenter salary in St. Joseph, MO-KS

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the St. Joseph, MO-KS area earn a median of $60,150 a year, or $28.92 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $89,350 a year. Statewide, carpenters earn a median of $60,840; St. Joseph is 1% below it.

Median yearly pay$60,150

Bottom 10% under$37,880Top 10% over$89,350

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $18.21/hr
Jobs in this area: 220
After cost of living: $69,630
Median hourly pay: $28.92/hr
vs U.S. median: −1%
vs Missouri median: −1%
Mean (average) pay: $63,710 a year · $30.63 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 41140, St. Joseph, MO-KS). 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 St. Joseph, MO-KS 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	$18.21	$37,880
25th percentile	$22.38	$46,560
Median (50th)	$28.92	$60,150
75th percentile	$40.17	$83,550
90th percentile	$42.96	$89,350

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

How St. Joseph, MO-KS compares

St. Joseph ranks 4th of 8 Missouri metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters hold about the same share of jobs in the St. Joseph area as nationally: 4.1 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Missouri metro areas

Other trades in St. Joseph, MO-KS

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in St. Joseph or St. Louis?: St. Louis pays more: the median is $60,150 in St. Joseph and $70,990 in St. Louis, a 15% 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 41140 (St. Joseph, MO-KS). 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 (86.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures