Helpers--Carpenters in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,189
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$6,871
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,098
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$46,060
Kept after tax
$39,189
Worth in national money
$36,098
State rank
10
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays helpers--carpenters a middle wage of $46,060, ranking 10 of 47 states and sitting about 5.21% above the national middle.
- Against 493 occupations Washington publishes, helpers--carpenters lands at 437. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $46,060, tax leaves $39,189 — and because Washington is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $36,098 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $50,800, since top earners drag the number up.
- Washington's median for helpers--carpenters is $46,060, about 5.21% above the national figure and 10 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Washington, this work ranks 437 of 493 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.
- After tax, $39,189 remains from the Washington median of $46,060 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $36,098 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $50,800 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $41,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,040 |
| This salary | $46,060 |
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 Washington | $39,189 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,189 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,230 |
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 | $46,060 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,116 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $46,060. The published range is $41,990 up to $60,040, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $39,189, from $46,060, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 437 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,098 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. 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 437.
- Reported values are medians; for helpers--carpenters in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,990 to $60,040. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,189 from $46,060. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 437 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,098, worked from $46,060, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 437 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $50,800, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $41,990 at the bottom tenth to $60,040 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,098 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $39,189 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Washington is $50,800. 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 ($41,990 to $60,040) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,098 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?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $39,189 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.