Do carpenters make more in Trenton or New York?

New York pays more: the median is $65,690 in Trenton and $74,300 in New York, a 12% difference.

Carpenter salary in Trenton, NJ

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Trenton–Princeton, NJ area earn a median of $65,690 a year, or $31.58 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $121,540. That's 3% more than the New Jersey median of $64,010.

Median yearly pay$65,690

Bottom 10% under$44,700Top 10% over$121,540

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $21.49/hr
Jobs in this area: 610
After cost of living: $63,670
Median hourly pay: $31.58/hr
vs U.S. median: +8%
vs New Jersey median: +3%
Mean (average) pay: $77,380 a year · $37.20 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 45940, Trenton-Princeton, NJ). 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 Trenton, NJ 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	$21.49	$44,700
25th percentile	$25.60	$53,250
Median (50th)	$31.58	$65,690
75th percentile	$51.38	$106,880
90th percentile	$58.43	$121,540

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

How Trenton, NJ compares

Trenton ranks 2nd of 6 New Jersey metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are less concentrated in the Trenton area than nationally: 2.5 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.59 times the U.S. share.

Other New Jersey metro areas

Other trades in Trenton, NJ

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Trenton or New York?: New York pays more: the median is $65,690 in Trenton and $74,300 in New York, a 12% 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 45940 (Trenton-Princeton, NJ). 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 (103.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures