How much does a carpenter make?

Whether you’re learning how to become a carpenter, thinking about becoming a self-employed chippy or you run a company of carpenters, this guide is for you. If you’re wondering ‘how much does a carpenter earn?’, keep reading to find out.

How much does a carpenter earn in the UK?

Carpenters are generally considered to be a well-paid trade in the UK. Skilled carpentry services are often in high demand, which means the earning potential for a carpenter is pretty good.

As an apprentice you’ll earn an average starting salary of around £11,414 per year. At the other end of the scale, a carpentry company owner can earn an average salary of £66,377 per year.

Your exact earnings will depend on a number of factors. For example:

• Your qualifications
• Your skills
• Your experience
• The type of carpentry work you do
• Where you’re based

If you decide to start your own carpentry business, whether that’s as a sole trader or a limited company, you’ll have the potential to earn a lot more than being employed.

However, you’ll still need to consider outgoings.

Need to find more work and increase your salary potential?

How much money do carpenters make a year?

Average carpenter salary will often depend on the level of experience of an individual (or company). A salary refers to the overall amount that a carpenter can make in a year.

Here are the averages of how much carpenters earn a year in the UK:

• Carpenter’s apprentice – £11,024 (take home)
• Newly qualified carpenter – £15,434 (take home)
• Employed carpenter – £27,538 (take home)
• Sole trader carpenter – £37,010 (take home)
• Carpentry company owner – £43,268 (take home)

Naturally, these are not exact numbers. However, knowing the approximate figures will help discussions either with your employees, or your employer. Depending on where you are in your career.

How much do carpenters make a day?

Very often you’ll find that carpentry work is charged by the day, depending on the job. If you’re a business owner, or sole trader, you might want to consider charging by project.

Day rates tend to apply more to labourers, so these are the averages that you can expect to earn:

• Apprentice – £52 per day
• Newly qualified – £80 per day
• Employed – £136 per day
• Sole trader – £300 per day
• Carpentry limited company owner – £360 per day

When charging daily, a carpenter’s earnings can vary based on the type of work being done. Some jobs will be more technically challenging than others.

How much does a carpenter make per hour?

The average carpenter hourly wage will also depend on the level of experience you have, as well as your type of employment.

Like with a daily rate, a carpenter’s hourly rate can often depend on whether they act as a labourer, are employed by a business, or are self-employed as a sole trader.

• Apprentice – £6.50 per hour
• Newly qualified – £10.00 per hour
• Employed – £17.00 per hour
• Sole trader – £37.50 per hour
• Carpentry limited company owner – £45.00 per hour

If you run your own carpentry business, then choosing between an hourly wage, or a daily rate, could make a big difference to your pricing structure.

Not sure where to start?

How much can an apprentice take home?

When starting out as a carpenter, you’ll very often begin your career as a carpenter’s apprentice.

Depending on your age, you can expect to take home a starting salary of around £11,024 per year as an apprentice. This is after taxes taken and deductions have been made.

Apprenticeships let you “earn as you learn”, so this salary is there to support you in education while you:

• Learn the trade
• Build up your carpentry skills
• Gain valuable experience as a junior carpenter

Carpentry is currently one of the highest paid types of apprenticeship. Want to see how it compares with other types of skilled trade work?

How much does a qualified carpenter earn?

Once you’re fully qualified and have some carpentry experience under your belt, you can expect your salary to go up to around £17,560 per year (take home).

That equates to:

• An hourly rate of around £10.00 per hour
• A day rate of roughly £80 per day

From there, your salary will vary depending on how long you’ve been qualified for and any additional carpentry training you complete. For example, if you train for any specialist or niche carpentry skills such as running your own green oak framing business.

How much do self-employed carpenters make?

When looking at earning potential, starting your own business as a self-employed carpenter can massively boost how much you can make compared to being an employed carpenter.

Below are the average self-employed carpenter salaries in the UK:

• Hourly rate – £37.50 per hour
• Day rate – £300 per day
• Yearly salary – £55,314 per year
• Annual take-home pay – £37,010 per year

It’s worth noting that, as a self-employed carpenter, your take-home pay above reflects the deduction of tax, as well as the costs for running your business – such as your work vehicle, fuel, tools and carpenter insurance.

These costs are unique to your business, and will depend on your setup. However, for sole traders, this works out at around £6,914 per year.

How much does a skilled carpenter make?

Many skilled carpenters in the UK will set themselves up as an independent carpentry business, either as a sole trader or a limited company.

After you deduct tax and business running costs, a skilled carpenter can expect to earn an average take-home salary of:

• £37,010 as a sole trader
• £43,268 as a limited company owner

The total earnings that you can generate will depend on a number of factors, including the size of your carpentry business, where you’re based, and the types of carpentry jobs you do.

Want tips to expand your carpentry business? Check out our guide to discover the steps you’ll need to take you to the next level and other tips on business growth.

How to make your carpentry business more profitable

One of the most important factors in running a successful carpentry business is profitability. At the end of the day, you want to make sure that all the carpentry jobs you’re doing are making you money.

To help you boost your profits, we’ve put together our top tips to make your carpentry business more profitable:

1. Make sure you’re charging enough

Not sure how to price a job? You need to make sure you can cover your outgoings (including tools, materials, insurance, marketing, wages and fuel). A pricing template can help you determine whether you need to raise your prices.

2. Choose to specialise in areas that are the most profitable

Some carpentry jobs make you more money with you having to spend less (for tools, materials, etc). Look at which jobs tend to earn you the most for the least outgoings, and do more of them.

3. Consider how large the area you cover should be

Travelling further afield can affect your profits through vehicle and fuel costs. So, if possible, either stick to your local area or charge extra for jobs that are further away.

Either the overall job value is worth it, or you’ll have to charge for all of the travel for the duration of the project.

4. Minimise your outgoings

As a business owner, it seems a no-brainer to make every penny count. You want as little debt as possible. Why not shop around for the best value tools, equipment, materials and workwear?

As a Checkatrade member, you get access to special offers and discounted rates with our trade partners such as Selco and Wickes.

5. Work on getting visibility for your business

This can be through advertising, your website, your company brand, customer reviews, SEO or industry contacts who can send work your way.

Investing time and energy into marketing is essential to growing your business.

6. Provide the best customer experience

By providing excellent services to all your customers, you’ll quickly build a strong reputation, win more work through word of mouth, and gain positive customer reviews.

Why not also join a trade directory like Checkatrade to build your reviews and online reputation?

Become your own boss with your new carpentry business

You could get your carpentry business flying in just 7 days with the help of our ‘Become the Boss’ series.

You’ll get 1 email a day with actionable tips. That’s seven emails in total (and a cheeky bonus email) featuring fellow tradespeople who were once in your position.

You’ll also receive a free business strategy call, and at the end of it all, you’ll get to be the Founder of your new business. What’s not to love?

To get trade business insider secrets sent to your pocket, put your email address in the form below so we can help you to get started.

FAQs

How much does a carpenter make a year?

It depends on the nature of employment, and whether you run your own business or not, but the average employed chippy can take home around £27,538 a year after deductions.

What is the highest wage for a carpenter?

Naturally, owners of carpentry companies can assign their own wages. Variables should be considered, but an owner could earn an average of £66,377 per year (before deductions).

What is the average wage for a site carpenter in the UK?

This will depend on the nature of work. For example, a typical labourer on a construction site can expect the average carpenter hourly wage to be between £10.00 and £80 per hour.

How much is a carpenter day rate in London?

There is a broad number of factors that affect prices for carpentry jobs. One of those is location. The average day rate for a self-employed carpenter is around £300 per day, but in the capital, this can rise due to London weighting.

That means that a carpenter salary in London will be higher than in other places in the country, due to the higher costs of living in the area.