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How to become a carpenter

Carpenters typically need a high school diploma and learn on the job or through apprenticeships; some work as construction laborers or helpers before becoming carpenters. Carpenters earned a median $60,580 a year in May 2025, and BLS projects 3.9% growth in the job count from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,800 openings a year. Typical entry education: high school diploma or equivalent.

The steps

1. Finish high school or the equivalent. A diploma or equivalent is typically required. High school courses such as mathematics and mechanical drawing may be useful, and some vocational-technical schools offer associate's degrees in carpentry, in programs that vary in length.
   BLS wording

   “A high school diploma or equivalent is typically required to enter the occupation. Certain high school courses, such as mathematics and mechanical drawing, may be useful. Some vocational-technical schools offer associate's degrees in carpentry. The programs vary in length and teach basics and specialties in carpentry.”

2. Learn on the job or in an apprenticeship. You often begin with simple tasks, such as measuring and cutting wood, under experienced carpenters or other construction workers, then progress to more complex tasks, such as reading blueprints and building wooden structures. Groups such as unions and contractor associations sponsor apprenticeships; each year of a typical program sets a number of hours of technical training and paid on-the-job training.
   BLS wording

   “Carpenters typically learn on the job or through apprenticeships. They often begin doing simple tasks, such as measuring and cutting wood, under the guidance of experienced carpenters or other construction workers. They then progress to more complex tasks, such as reading blueprints and building wooden structures. ... Several groups, such as unions and contractor associations, sponsor apprenticeship programs. For each year of a typical program, apprentices must complete a predetermined number of hours of technical training and paid on-the-job training.”

3. Pass the OSHA 10-hour safety course. The Handbook states that all carpenters must pass the OSHA 10-hour course.
   BLS wording

   “All carpenters must pass the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour safety course.”

4. Add an optional specialty certification and advance. Specialty certifications are optional and may lead to more work or to advancement. Carpenters may have opportunities to become first-line supervisors, lead carpenters, independent contractors or general construction supervisors.
   BLS wording

   “Optional programs offer certification by specialty that may allow carpenters to find additional work opportunities or lead to career advancement. ... Carpenters are involved in many phases of construction and may have opportunities to become first-line supervisors, lead carpenters, independent contractors, or general construction supervisors.”

Steps follow the Occupational Outlook Handbook: Carpenters, read 2026-09-23.

How long it takes

The Handbook gives no length: carpenters typically learn on the job or through apprenticeships, each year of a typical program sets a number of hours of technical training and paid on-the-job training, and requirements differ by type of program and by region.

What it costs

No state license fee is sourced here for carpenters. In a typical apprenticeship program, the on-the-job training is paid.

License requirements by state

Do you need a license? The Handbook names no trade license for carpenters; it says carpenters may need a driver's license to travel to jobsites and that specialty certifications are optional. No state licensing records are sourced here for carpenters; the 51 state pages carry pay and employment.

Apprenticeships

Groups such as unions and contractor associations sponsor the programs; requirements differ by type of program and by region. The federal Apprenticeship Finder searches apprenticeship openings by occupation and by city, state or ZIP code. Apprenticeship Finder →

U.S. Department of Labor records list 33,834 registered apprentices active across the 50 states and DC in fiscal year 2024 under the occupation titles DOL maps to carpenters; the state pages give each state's count and, where enough apprentices carry a wage DOL counts, the median starting and completing wages (how they are counted). Apprentice counts and wages in every state → · what those wages come to at your hours a week →

What carpenters earn, by state

Carpenters (SOC 47-2031) earned a national median of $60,580 a year in May 2025, $29.12 an hour, with 670,090 employed. Hawaii paid the most, $85,280, 41% above the national median.

Top five by median annual wage: Hawaii ($85,280), Illinois ($79,000), California ($75,920), Massachusetts ($75,200), Washington ($74,190). Lowest five: Oklahoma ($46,910), Arkansas ($47,760), South Dakota ($48,140), Alabama ($48,220), Mississippi ($48,650).

"Per 1,000 jobs" is how concentrated the trade is in that state's workforce. A state can pay well and still have few openings; the employment column and this one together say how much of a market there is.

As files: pay by state (CSV) · pay by metro area (CSV) · all files and how to credit them.

Job outlook, 2025 to 2035

BLS projects 3.9% growth in employment from 2025 to 2035 (889,700 to 924,700 jobs) and about 62,800 openings a year over the decade, counting growth and replacement.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Table 1.2 Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025, retrieved 2026-10-03. Openings count growth plus the workers who leave the occupation.

Common questions

Sources

• Occupational Outlook Handbook: Carpenters, read 2026-09-23: the steps, training length and licensing pattern.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates, retrieved 2026-10-03: every wage and employment figure. How the numbers are built.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Table 1.2, retrieved 2026-10-03: growth, openings and entry education.