Carpenter Salary - Southeast

The Southeast employs a large number of carpenters, with Florida alone accounting for 39,300. However, wages across the Southeast cluster near or below the national median of $60,580. Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas all have large carpenter workforces driven by residential construction booms but right-to-work environments keep wages suppressed. Virginia is pulled upward by the Northern Virginia market.

UBC union density is low across most of the Southeast. Right-to-work legislation dominates and non-union residential framing and finish work handles the majority of the market. UBC regional councils have limited commercial market share outside major metros. The exception is large commercial and institutional projects in major metros -- Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, and Northern Virginia -- where union contractors are more prevalent. Millwright work in the region's manufacturing facilities is more likely to involve UBC jurisdiction.

The Southeast offers the best cost of living in the country for carpenters. Tennessee at 88.9, Georgia at 90.6, and most Southeast states are well below the national average. The affordability advantage is significant -- a journeyman carpenter earning $50,830 in Tennessee has more purchasing power than many comparable wages on the coasts. Virginia at 99.1 is near the national average. Florida at 100.7 is near average but varies significantly by market.