Carpenters in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,058
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$11,902
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,083
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$56,960
Kept after tax
$45,058
Worth in national money
$50,083
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kansas sits in the middle of the pack for carpenters. The median is $56,960, ranking 32 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Kansas reports figures for, this is number 236.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $56,960 you keep $45,058 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $50,083 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $59,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kansas occupies the middle band for carpenters: a median of $56,960, ranking 32 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Kansas's occupational distribution, carpenters sits at 236 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Kansas is $45,058 after the full tax stack, from $56,960. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $50,083 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $88,090 |
| This salary | $56,960 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Kansas | $45,058 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,947 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$742 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $53,363 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$898 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of carpenters in Kansas earn under $56,960 and half over. The published range runs $38,860 at the tenth percentile to $88,090 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kansas's $45,058, worked from $56,960. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 236 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,083, the adjusted value of that $56,960 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 236 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for carpenters in Kansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,860 to $88,090; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Kansas take-home of $45,058, on $56,960 for work ranking 236 of 488 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 236 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kansas, so $50,083 — the adjusted value of that $56,960 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 236 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $59,460, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,860 at the bottom tenth to $88,090 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $50,083.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Kansas's own levy, $45,058 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Kansas is $59,460. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($38,860) and the ninetieth ($88,090) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kansas's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $50,083 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $45,058 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.