Do carpenters make more in Appleton or Oshkosh?

Oshkosh pays more: the median is $62,490 in Appleton and $84,430 in Oshkosh, a 26% difference.

Carpenter salary in Appleton, WI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Appleton, WI area earn a median of $62,490 a year, or $30.04 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $96,290. Statewide, carpenters earn a median of $61,660; Appleton is 1% above it.

Median yearly pay$62,490

Bottom 10% under$45,670Top 10% over$96,290

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $21.96/hr
Jobs in this area: 700
After cost of living: $67,620
Median hourly pay: $30.04/hr
vs U.S. median: +3%
vs Wisconsin median: +1%
Mean (average) pay: $67,500 a year · $32.45 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 11540, Appleton, WI). 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 Appleton, WI 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	$21.96	$45,670
25th percentile	$24.40	$50,740
Median (50th)	$30.04	$62,490
75th percentile	$40.83	$84,930
90th percentile	$46.29	$96,290

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

How Appleton, WI compares

Appleton ranks 8th of 15 Wisconsin metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are more concentrated in the Appleton area than nationally: 5.6 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.3 times the U.S. share.

Other Wisconsin metro areas

Other trades in Appleton, WI

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Appleton or Oshkosh?: Oshkosh pays more: the median is $62,490 in Appleton and $84,430 in Oshkosh, a 26% 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 11540 (Appleton, WI). 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 (92.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures