Helpers--Carpenters in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,704
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$9,556
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,185
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$43,260
Kept after tax
$33,704
Worth in national money
$32,185
State rank
20
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Oregon pays helpers--carpenters around $43,260 at the midpoint, 20 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 489 occupations Oregon publishes, helpers--carpenters lands at 438. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $43,260 the take-home is $33,704. But Oregon costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $32,185 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $45,390, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For helpers--carpenters the Oregon median is $43,260, ranking 20 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Oregon, this work ranks 438 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Oregon income tax is $33,704 for helpers--carpenters, from $43,260. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $32,185. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $45,390 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Helpers--Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,820 |
| This salary | $43,260 |
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 Oregon | $33,704 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,939 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,828 |
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 | $39,234 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,049 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,260 as a midpoint for Oregon, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,780 and the ninetieth is $53,820 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oregon's $33,704, worked from $43,260. 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 438 of 489.
- Two cautions on $32,185, the adjusted value of that $43,260 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oregon. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 438 of 489 locally.
- The Oregon median of $43,260 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,780 to $53,820. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Oregon take-home of $33,704, on $43,260 for work ranking 438 of 489 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 438 of 489 in the state.
- This $32,185 adjusted figure, worked from $43,260, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 438 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 438 of 489 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 $45,390, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,780 and the top tenth $53,820, so most people doing this work in Oregon sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $32,185 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Oregon then takes its own share, leaving $33,704.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Oregon is $45,390. 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 ($33,780 to $53,820) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oregon rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $32,185 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $33,704 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.
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.