Skip to main content
SalaryTruthBLS DATA

Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2025

Carpenter Salary in Omaha, NE

Trades · SOC 47-2031 · COL Index 91.8

Carpenters in Omaha, NE earn a median salary of $52,800 as of 2025, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range of $40,420 to $74,090. The mean is $56,590 across approximately 3,230 workers. Adjusted for Omaha, NE's cost-of-living index of 91.8, the median equates to $57,516 of purchasing power in an average-cost U.S. metro.

Carpenter in Omaha, NE pays below the national median: $52,800 locally versus $60,398. The discount usually reflects either lower cost-of-living, smaller local industry concentration, or weaker labor demand.

Cost-of-living in Omaha, NE runs below the national baseline (index 91.8). The cost-adjusted purchasing power of $52,800 works out to roughly $57,516 in national-baseline dollars — often higher real income than in high-cost coastal cities at the same gross wage. Wage distribution at the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles: $45,372, $52,800, $63,445, $74,090. 3,230 Carpenter workers are documented in Omaha, NE per the BLS OEWS survey. The percentile spread is the most useful framing — entry-level pay clusters near p25, mid-career near p50, senior-level near p75-p90.

$52,800
Median Salary
$56,590
Mean Salary
$57,516
COL-Adjusted
3,230
Employment

Salary Distribution

Percentile Breakdown

PercentileSalaryCOL-Adjusted
10th Percentile (Entry Level)$40,420$44,031
25th Percentile$45,372$49,425
50th Percentile (Median)$52,800$57,516
75th Percentile$63,445$69,112
90th Percentile (Top Earners)$74,090$80,708

What These Numbers Tell You

The 10th-to-90th percentile band for Carpenters in Omaha, NE is moderately wide — the 90th-percentile worker earns about 1.8× the 10th-percentile worker. That is typical for a professional role with standard career progression: experience, scope, and employer size all matter, but the spread is not so extreme that the role bifurcates into separate sub-markets.

Omaha, NE's cost-of-living index of 91.8 runs below the U.S. average, so a $52,800 salary here has the equivalent purchasing power of about $57,516 in an average-cost metro. Lower nominal pay in markets like this often translates to comparable or better real income than higher headline numbers in coastal hubs.

Omaha, NE ranks #45 of 70 BLS-tracked metros for Carpenter pay — in the lower half nationally (64th percentile). Lower nominal pay here is often offset by a lower cost of living; check the COL-adjusted figure on this page for an apples-to-apples comparison.

How to Use This in Negotiation

The classic negotiation move is to anchor your ask on the 75th percentile of the BLS band — $63,445 for Carpenters in Omaha, NE — when you have meaningful experience, then bring evidence (years on the job, scope of past work, relevant certifications, comparable offers) to justify why you sit at that point in the distribution. Anchoring on the median when you have 5+ years of experience leaves money on the table; anchoring on the 90th percentile ($74,090) without strong evidence undercuts credibility.

For new entrants, the 25th-to-50th percentile band ($45,372$52,800) is the realistic target. For mid-career workers, the median-to-75th band ($52,800$63,445) is the right anchor. Senior specialists and managers should be benchmarking against the 75th-to-90th band ($63,445$74,090).

For specific scripts and a full negotiation framework, see the data-driven salary negotiation guide. To benchmark your current pay, the salary percentile calculator places any number into the BLS distribution for this role and metro.

How This Salary Is Calculated

Wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program — a federal survey of about 1.2 million U.S. establishments, published once per year by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. The Omaha, NE percentile bands above (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) and the mean are pulled directly from the BLS data file for SOC code 47-2031 in this MSA. The COL-adjusted figure rebases salary to a U.S. national average COL of 100, using a composite index derived from public housing, food, and transportation data. Read the full methodology for details.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average Carpenter salary in Omaha, NE?

Carpenters in Omaha, NE earn a median salary of $52,800 as of 2025, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS data. The mean (employment-weighted average) is $56,590 across roughly 3,230 workers in this metro.

What is the salary range for Carpenters in Omaha, NE?

Pay ranges from $40,420 at the 10th percentile to $74,090 at the 90th percentile — a $33,670 spread. The 25th-to-75th percentile band ($45,372 to $63,445) is the typical anchor for salary negotiation.

Is $52,800 a good Carpenter salary in Omaha, NE?

$52,800 is the BLS median — half of Carpenters in Omaha, NE earn more, half earn less. Whether it is "good" depends on your experience: new entrants typically land near the 25th percentile ($45,372), mid-career workers near the median, and senior specialists near or above the 75th percentile ($63,445). Cost-of-living-adjusted to a national average baseline, the median equates to $57,516.

How does Carpenter pay in Omaha, NE compare to other metros?

Omaha, NE ranks #45 of 70 BLS-tracked metros for Carpenter median pay. Nominal pay is in the lower half of U.S. metros, though the cost of living usually offsets at least part of that gap.

Where does this Carpenter salary data come from?

Every wage figure comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program at bls.gov/oes — public domain federal data covering 1.2 million U.S. employers. The same data feeds the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage system used for H-1B and federal contracting wage determinations.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Omaha, NE MSA, SOC 47-2031, 2025 release. Public domain. See bls.gov/oes. Cite as: "SalaryTruth, BLS OEWS 2025."

Last refreshed 2026-05-21 · 3,230 Carpenters tracked in Omaha, NE.