TradeSalary

Carpenter salary in Seattle, WA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA area earn a median of $76,410 a year, or $36.74 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $123,750. That's 3% more than the Washington median of $74,190.

Median yearly pay$76,410
Bottom 10% under$58,090Top 10% over$123,750
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$27.93/hr
Jobs in this area
14,970
After cost of living
$68,760
Median hourly pay
$36.74/hr
vs U.S. median
+26%
vs Washington median
+3%
Mean (average) pay
$84,060 a year · $40.42 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 42660, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, 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 Seattle, 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.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$27.93$58,090
25th percentile$30.64$63,740
Median (50th)$36.74$76,410
75th percentile$47.93$99,700
90th percentile$59.50$123,750

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

How Seattle, WA compares

  • Seattle has the highest carpenter median of the 13 Washington metro areas with published pay.
  • Carpenters are more concentrated in the Seattle area than nationally: 7.2 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.7 times the U.S. share.

Other Washington metro areas

Other trades in Seattle, WA

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Seattle or Portland?
Seattle pays more: the median is $76,410 in Seattle and $73,710 in Portland, a 4% 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 42660 (Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, 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 (111.1, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures