- The middle half earn between $23.92 and $38.13 an hour.
- Wisconsin ranks 20th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Wisconsin pays more than 1 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 13,880 carpenters on payrolls in Wisconsin.
- At the state median wage, a carpentry or remodeling business needs to bill about $122.66 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Carpenter pay in Wisconsin, bottom to top
The BLS carpenter group covers framing, finish and remodel carpenters, on homes and on commercial jobs.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $21.69 | $45,110 | $19.43 |
| 25th percentile | $23.92 | $49,750 | $23.32 |
| Median | $29.65 | $61,660 | $29.12 |
| 75th percentile | $38.13 | $79,310 | $36.94 |
| 90th percentile | $44.73 | $93,040 | $48.03 |
| Average (mean) | $31.39 | $65,300 | $31.55 |
Pay is bunched up in Wisconsin. The top tenth earn $44.73 an hour or more, about 2.1 times the $21.69 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.5 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
The floor is higher than nationally ($21.69 against $19.43) but the ceiling is lower ($44.73 against $48.03), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $31.39, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Wisconsin compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $61,660 in Wisconsin against $60,580 nationally, $1,080 more.
In the state ranking, Wisconsin sits 20th, between Michigan ($29.66) and New Hampshire ($29.42). The range runs from $22.55 in Oklahoma to $41.00 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, Wisconsin is in the middle: Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota pay more, and Iowa pays less.
How many carpenters work in Wisconsin
About 13,880 carpenters work on payrolls in Wisconsin, 2.1% of the 670,090 nationwide, the 19th largest count among the states.
That is 4.7 of every 1,000 jobs in Wisconsin, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a carpentry or remodeling business in Wisconsin should charge
Say you run a carpentry or remodeling business in Wisconsin and pay the state median of $29.65 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on its starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $29.65 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $66,390 |
| Break-even rate | ($66,390 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $104.26 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $104.26 ÷ 0.85 | $122.66 |
That is $122.66 per billable hour, 4.1 times the wage, and almost the same as the $121.73 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $38.13 in Wisconsin, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $137.55.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.92, the rate only drops to $112.60.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a carpenter in Wisconsin
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how remodelers run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-2031, carpenters, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: carpenter salary by state.