Helpers--Carpenters in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,497
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$5,723
14.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,346
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — 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
$40,220
Kept after tax
$34,497
Worth in national money
$33,346
State rank
27
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Florida sits in the middle of the pack for helpers--carpenters. The median is $40,220, ranking 27 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Florida, this one sits low: 394 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $40,220, tax leaves $34,497 — and because Florida is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $33,346 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $41,750, since top earners drag the number up.
- Florida occupies the middle band for helpers--carpenters: a median of $40,220, ranking 27 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Helpers--carpenters occupies position 394 of 493 in Florida's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $34,497 remains from the Florida median of $40,220 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $33,346 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $41,750 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Helpers--Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,450 |
| This salary | $40,220 |
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 Florida | $34,497 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,497 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,154 |
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 | $40,220 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,605 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
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 helpers--carpenters in Florida earn under $40,220 and half over. The published range runs $34,160 at the tenth percentile to $49,450 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 Florida's $34,497, worked from $40,220. 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 394 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,346 uses one figure for the whole of Florida. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 394.
- Figures are distribution medians for helpers--carpenters in Florida, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,160 to $49,450; 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 Florida take-home of $34,497, on $40,220 for work ranking 394 of 493 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 394 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,346, worked from $40,220, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Florida address, on work sitting at 394 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $41,750, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,160 at the tenth percentile, $49,450 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $33,346 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $34,497 survives, because Florida levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 Florida is $41,750. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,160 to $49,450) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Florida rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $33,346 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $34,497 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.