Do carpenters make more in Altoona or Philadelphia?

Philadelphia pays more: the median is $57,360 in Altoona and $61,780 in Philadelphia, a 7% difference.

Carpenter salary in Altoona, PA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Altoona, PA area earn a median of $57,360 a year, or $27.58 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $100,920 a year. That's 3% less than the Pennsylvania median of $59,370.

Median yearly pay$57,360

Bottom 10% under$41,600Top 10% over$100,920

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $20.00/hr
Jobs in this area: 360
After cost of living: $64,080
Median hourly pay: $27.58/hr
vs U.S. median: −5%
vs Pennsylvania median: −3%
Mean (average) pay: $65,320 a year · $31.40 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 11020, Altoona, PA). 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 Altoona, PA 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	$20.00	$41,600
25th percentile	$22.09	$45,950
Median (50th)	$27.58	$57,360
75th percentile	$36.73	$76,400
90th percentile	$48.52	$100,920

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

How Altoona, PA compares

Altoona ranks 7th of 16 Pennsylvania metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are more concentrated in the Altoona area than nationally: 6.2 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.4 times the U.S. share.

Other Pennsylvania metro areas

Other trades in Altoona, PA

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Altoona or Philadelphia?: Philadelphia pays more: the median is $57,360 in Altoona and $61,780 in Philadelphia, a 7% 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 11020 (Altoona, PA). 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 (89.5, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures