Helpers--Carpenters Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $42K, rent takes 60.9% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,713/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $800/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new helpers--carpenters typically earn — is $29K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,769/month. At HUD’s $1,713/month FMR, rent would take 97% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $42K locally vs. $44K nationally, a 4% difference.

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk pays $42K median vs. the U.S. average of $44K — that’s -4%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 97.94), the purchasing-power equivalent is $43K — below the national median.

The median is $41,810 a year, that works out to about $20 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $29,490, and experienced helpers--carpenters can clear $56,280. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,812/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,713/month, which eats 60.9% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk has a Regional Price Parity of 97.94 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median helpers--carpenters salary is worth about $42,689 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.