Carpenter Salary in Macon, GA: Median $46,207 in 2026
Macon (GA) · COL index 82 · Unemployment 4.8% · Metro pop 230,000 · Rank #274 of 283 for Carpenter salary
A Carpenter in Macon earns an estimated median of $46,207 per year. That figure starts from the Georgia state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($54,374) and scales it by Macon's composite cost-of-living index of 82 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $34,663; the 90th percentile reaches $81,427. After federal, Georgia state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Carpenter takes home approximately $37,412/year — about $3,118/month or $1,439 every other week.
Compared to the national Carpenter median of $56,350, Macon pays -18.0%. Relative to the Macon median household income of $38,500, a Carpentersalary runs +20.0%. Local unemployment is 4.8%[3], with an estimated 69 annual Carpenter openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (667,400).
Carpenter Snapshot — Macon (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Macon | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpenter median salary | $46,207 | $56,350 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $34,663 | $40,790 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $81,427 | $95,820 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $37,412 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $195,111 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,209/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,100/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $58,127 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 82.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 4.8% | — | [3] |
How Carpenter Salaries Work in Macon
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Georgia state-level OEWS median ($54,374) and scaling by Macon's composite cost-of-living index (82)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Georgia state income tax at a 4.0% effective rate ($1,844/yr on the $46,207 median)[10].
Macon also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. Near-national unemployment means a balanced market — employers and candidates negotiate from roughly equal positions. Median household income in the metro is $58,127, which frames what "a good Carpenter salary" means locally: a $$46,207 wage pays about 79% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Macon
Estimated annual expense shares on a $37,412 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Macon's COL index of 82. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Macon's COL index of 82[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $850/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Macon
Renting
Buying
At $3,118/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $935/mo. Macon's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,209/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,100/mo), making rent very affordable on a median Carpenter salary. For homebuyers, the 3.6× price-to-income ratio is comfortable — a median {p.title} salary supports the median home in {city.name} well inside standard lender DTI caps.
How Macon Stacks Up for Carpenters
Against 283 major US cities: Macon ranks #274 for nominal Carpenter salary, #49 for rent affordability, and #13 for overall purchasing power. Top-30 purchasing power makes Macon an attractive salary-to-cost market for Carpenters — nominal wages stretch further than the sticker numbers suggest.
Nearby Cities — Carpenter Salary Comparison
Macon's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macon, GA ★ | $46,207 | 82 | $850 | — |
| Atlanta, GA | $63,675 | 113 | $1,576 | +37.8% |
| Augusta, GA | $49,588 | 88 | $850 | +7.3% |
| Savannah, GA | $56,350 | 100 | $1,598 | +22.0% |
| Columbus, GA | $47,898 | 85 | $900 | +3.7% |
| Athens, GA | $51,279 | 91 | $1,100 | +11.0% |
Carpenter Job Market in Macon
Macon has an estimated 69 annual Carpenteropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 667,400 national Carpenters[1]. The 4.8% unemployment rate[3] is near the national average, with steady turnover across most sectors.
About the profession: Carpenters construct, install, and repair structures and fixtures made of wood and other materials in residential and commercial construction. Typical entry requirement: high school diploma / apprenticeship. Projected growth through 2034: 3%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Macon
Early-career Carpenters in Macon start around $34,663, reach the city median ($46,207) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($81,427) at senior / specialized levels.
Related trades professions in Macon
Calculators for Carpenters in Macon
Other professions in Macon
Frequently Asked Questions — Carpenter in Macon
How much does a Carpenter make in Macon, GA?
The estimated median salary for a Carpenter in Macon is $46,207/year, scaled from the national median ($56,350) by Macon's composite cost-of-living index of 82 (US = 100). After federal, Georgia state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $37,412/year or $3,118/month.
Can a Carpenter afford to live in Macon?
On $3,118/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $935/month. Macon's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,209/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,100/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 22.1%, making housing very affordable for a Carpenter at the local median. Home-buyers face 3.6× price-to-income, needing roughly 3.6 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Carpenter pay in Macon?
On $46,207 gross, a Carpenter in Macon pays approximately $3,416 in federal income tax (7.4% effective), $1,844 in Georgia state income tax (4.0% effective), and $3,535 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 19.0%. Some Georgia cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Macon rank for Carpenter salaries vs other cities?
Macon ranks #274 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Carpenter salary, #49 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #13 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Carpenter in Macon?
On $37,412 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Macon looks like: housing $10,200/yr (27.3%); food $4,005/yr; transportation $3,472/yr; healthcare $2,477/yr; utilities $1,702/yr; savings + discretionary $15,556/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Macon's COL index of 82 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Carpenter job market like in Macon?
Macon's unemployment rate is 4.8% across the metro of 230,000. Estimated annual Carpenter openings: ~69 (extrapolated from 667,400 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The market is near national averages with steady turnover.
Do Macon employers pay above or below the Georgia median for Carpenters?
Not consistently — Macon's estimated Carpenter median of $46,207 is 18.0% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Macon median is derived from the Georgia state-level BLS OEWS median ($54,374), scaled by Macon's composite cost-of-living index of 82. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Carpentermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Georgia's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 82index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 96.5(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Georgia Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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