Do carpenters make more in Erie or Philadelphia?

Philadelphia pays more: the median is $56,850 in Erie and $61,780 in Philadelphia, a 8% difference.

Carpenter salary in Erie, PA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Erie, PA area earn a median of $56,850 a year, or $27.33 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $76,090 a year. Across all of Pennsylvania, the median is $59,370, so Erie pays 4% less than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$56,850

Bottom 10% under$36,380Top 10% over$76,090

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $17.49/hr
Jobs in this area: 530
After cost of living: $62,510
Median hourly pay: $27.33/hr
vs U.S. median: −6%
vs Pennsylvania median: −4%
Mean (average) pay: $58,100 a year · $27.93 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 21500, Erie, 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 Erie, 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	$17.49	$36,380
25th percentile	$22.37	$46,530
Median (50th)	$27.33	$56,850
75th percentile	$36.03	$74,940
90th percentile	$36.58	$76,090

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

How Erie, PA compares

Erie ranks 8th of 16 Pennsylvania metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters hold about the same share of jobs in the Erie area as nationally: 4.4 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Pennsylvania metro areas

Other trades in Erie, PA

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Erie or Philadelphia?: Philadelphia pays more: the median is $56,850 in Erie and $61,780 in Philadelphia, a 8% 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 21500 (Erie, 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 (91.0, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures