Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Carpenter vs Sheet Metal Worker
Carpenters earn a national median of $61,080 versus $67,236 for Sheet Metal Workers, a gap of $6,156 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Carpenters have posted +2% 5-year wage growth versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers.
How These Trades Stack Up
Sheet Metal Workers out-earn Carpenters on national median by $6,156 — $67,236 versus $61,080, or about 10% more. That gap reflects differences in apprenticeship length, certification requirements, industry concentration, and union footprint between the two trades.
Sheet Metal Workers have grown faster — +4% over five years versus +2% for Carpenters. Sustained growth gaps of this size can compound meaningfully over a 20-30 year career, so workers comparing the two trades should weigh growth alongside the headline median.
Both trades follow a 4-year apprenticeship pathway — paid on-the-job training combined with classroom instruction, registered through the U.S. Department of Labor at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/. Apprentice pay typically scales from roughly 40% of journeyman wage in year one to 95% by the final year.
Carpenter
Construction · 4yr apprenticeship
Sheet Metal Worker
Metalwork · 4yr apprenticeship
City-by-City Comparison
| City | Carpenter | Sheet Metal Worker | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | $80,950 | $98,140 | -$17,190 |
| Seattle, WA | $76,760 | $102,680 | -$25,920 |
| Chicago, IL | $76,510 | $97,970 | -$21,460 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $75,710 | $62,550 | +$13,160 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $73,840 | $78,560 | -$4,720 |
| Boston, MA | $73,800 | $69,040 | +$4,760 |
| New York, NY | $69,680 | $77,350 | -$7,670 |
| Portland, OR | $65,810 | $77,950 | -$12,140 |
| St. Louis, MO | $65,090 | $82,150 | -$17,060 |
| Detroit, MI | $65,060 | $61,750 | +$3,310 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $62,350 | $81,140 | -$18,790 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $62,260 | $79,490 | -$17,230 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $61,870 | $64,100 | -$2,230 |
| Columbus, OH | $61,490 | $65,460 | -$3,970 |
| Denver, CO | $61,470 | $60,730 | +$740 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $61,470 | $46,800 | +$14,670 |
| Kansas City, MO | $61,040 | $81,500 | -$20,460 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $59,650 | $63,830 | -$4,180 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $59,410 | $63,390 | -$3,980 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $59,030 | $53,320 | +$5,710 |
| Nashville, TN | $53,730 | $60,510 | -$6,780 |
| Atlanta, GA | $51,390 | $49,630 | +$1,760 |
| New Orleans, LA | $51,130 | $61,090 | -$9,960 |
| Charlotte, NC | $50,810 | $52,870 | -$2,060 |
| Raleigh, NC | $49,520 | $51,610 | -$2,090 |
| Tampa, FL | $49,170 | $48,770 | +$400 |
| Houston, TX | $48,910 | $56,020 | -$7,110 |
| Dallas, TX | $48,420 | $57,270 | -$8,850 |
| Miami, FL | $48,400 | $56,580 | -$8,180 |
| San Antonio, TX | $47,670 | $54,830 | -$7,160 |
How These Numbers Are Calculated
All wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (2024) release at bls.gov/oes. National medians are the BLS-published median wages for the trade's Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code; metropolitan medians come from the same OEWS release at the metropolitan statistical area level. Five-year wage growth compares the current OEWS median to the same series five releases prior, expressed as a percent change. The Trade Pay Score weights raw pay (30%), wage growth (25%), employment depth (25%), and cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power (20%) into a single 0-100 grade — read the full methodology.
Forward-looking employment projections through 2032 for both trades are published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. Apprenticeship pathway detail comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov registry. All three are public-domain federal data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Carpenters or Sheet Metal Workers make more money?
Sheet Metal Workers earn more on national median — $67,236 versus $61,080, a gap of $6,156 per 2024 BLS OEWS data. The full BLS dataset is published at https://www.bls.gov/oes/.
Which trade has stronger 5-year wage growth?
Sheet Metal Workers have posted faster wage growth at +4% versus +2% for Carpenters. Sustained gaps in growth often compound meaningfully over a 20-30 year career.
How long is the apprenticeship for each trade?
Carpenters typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Sheet Metal Workers typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Programs are listed at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/.
Which trade has better employment depth?
Carpenters have 299,230 workers employed nationally; Sheet Metal Workers have 45,860. Larger employment bases generally translate into more job openings, easier mobility between employers, and lower volatility — useful when comparing the long-term resilience of two trade pathways.
Where can I find apprenticeships for either trade?
Registered apprenticeship programs for both Carpenter and Sheet Metal Worker are listed on the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov site at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/, which lets you filter by trade, state, and city. Projected employment growth through 2032 for each occupation is published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Carpenters earn a national median of $61,080 versus $67,236 for Sheet Metal Workers, a gap of $6,156 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Carpenters have posted +2% 5-year wage growth versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers.
The side-by-side above pulls the the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey data for both Carpenter and Sheet Metal Worker. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for Carpenter versus Sheet Metal Worker, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual Carpenter and Sheet Metal Worker detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.