Do carpenters make more in Olympia or Seattle?

Seattle pays more: the median is $63,260 in Olympia and $76,410 in Seattle, a 17% difference.

Carpenter salary in Olympia, WA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Olympia–Lacey–Tumwater, WA area earn a median of $63,260 a year, or $30.41 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $100,290. That's 15% less than the Washington median of $74,190.

Median yearly pay$63,260

Bottom 10% under$51,170Top 10% over$100,290

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $24.60/hr
Jobs in this area: 800
After cost of living: $61,020
Median hourly pay: $30.41/hr
vs U.S. median: +4%
vs Washington median: −15%
Mean (average) pay: $71,670 a year · $34.46 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 36500, Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA). 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 Olympia, WA 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	$24.60	$51,170
25th percentile	$28.58	$59,450
Median (50th)	$30.41	$63,260
75th percentile	$36.82	$76,590
90th percentile	$48.22	$100,290

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

How Olympia, WA compares

Olympia ranks 10th of 13 Washington metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are more concentrated in the Olympia area than nationally: 6.1 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.4 times the U.S. share.

Other Washington metro areas

Other trades in Olympia, WA

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Olympia or Seattle?: Seattle pays more: the median is $63,260 in Olympia and $76,410 in Seattle, a 17% 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 36500 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA). 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 (103.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures