TradeSalary

Carpenter salary in La Crosse, WI-MN

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the La Crosse–Onalaska, WI-MN area earn a median of $58,950 a year, or $28.34 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $83,600. That's 4% less than the Wisconsin median of $61,660.

Median yearly pay$58,950
Bottom 10% under$45,930Top 10% over$83,600
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$22.08/hr
Jobs in this area
450
After cost of living
$64,240
Median hourly pay
$28.34/hr
vs U.S. median
−3%
vs Wisconsin median
−4%
Mean (average) pay
$62,240 a year · $29.92 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 29100, La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN). 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 La Crosse, WI-MN 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$22.08$45,930
25th percentile$23.93$49,770
Median (50th)$28.34$58,950
75th percentile$36.95$76,850
90th percentile$40.19$83,600

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

How La Crosse, WI-MN compares

  • La Crosse ranks 14th of 15 Wisconsin metro areas for carpenter pay.
  • Carpenters are more concentrated in the La Crosse area than nationally: 5.3 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.2 times the U.S. share.

Other Wisconsin metro areas

Other trades in La Crosse, WI-MN

Questions

Do carpenters make more in La Crosse or Minneapolis?
Minneapolis pays more: the median is $58,950 in La Crosse and $74,060 in Minneapolis, a 20% 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 29100 (La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN). 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 (91.8, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures