Do carpenters make more in Madison or Oshkosh?

Oshkosh pays more: the median is $63,480 in Madison and $84,430 in Oshkosh, a 25% difference.

Carpenter salary in Madison, WI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Madison, WI area earn a median of $63,480 a year, or $30.52 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $92,430. Across all of Wisconsin, the median is $61,660, so Madison pays 3% more than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$63,480

Bottom 10% under$46,670Top 10% over$92,430

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $22.44/hr
Jobs in this area: 2,320
After cost of living: $65,250
Median hourly pay: $30.52/hr
vs U.S. median: +5%
vs Wisconsin median: +3%
Mean (average) pay: $68,120 a year · $32.75 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 31540, Madison, 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 Madison, 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	$22.44	$46,670
25th percentile	$25.71	$53,480
Median (50th)	$30.52	$63,480
75th percentile	$39.68	$82,540
90th percentile	$44.44	$92,430

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

How Madison, WI compares

Madison ranks 5th of 15 Wisconsin metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are more concentrated in the Madison area than nationally: 5.7 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.3 times the U.S. share.

Other Wisconsin metro areas

Other trades in Madison, WI

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

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Madison or Oshkosh?: Oshkosh pays more: the median is $63,480 in Madison and $84,430 in Oshkosh, a 25% 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 31540 (Madison, 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 (97.3, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures