Pick a trade and state to see real hourly rates.
Current BLS California employee wages for Carpenters, SOC 47-2031; carpenters broadly, including framers, excluding premium pay and benefits.
Last updated October 21, 2026. Rates are market estimates, not guarantees.
Career guide · California
Learn framing through Northern California apprenticeship, Oakland carpentry classes and supervised work assembling floors, walls and roofs.
Start with the skills needed to turn framing drawings into a stable structure. You will measure lumber, mark openings, assemble walls and install sheathing. This guide connects those duties with California contracting rules and three training options. Its wage figures cover carpenter employees broadly, so ask employers which framing tasks and responsibilities their offers include.
A good share of those postings are open to people at entry level with no licence yet. Live counts move week to week — the training routes below do not.
The trade is not one job, it is three, and they are separated by what you are legally allowed to do rather than by how good you are. Knowing which level you are aiming at tells you which hours, which exam and which certificates actually matter.
Paid from day one, working under a licensed hand while you bank the hours that lead to your own card.
Qualified to work on your own. This is the level nearly every job ad is really asking for, and the biggest pay step you will ever get.
You run work rather than just do it: crews across sites, permits where the trade allows, and the option of qualifying a business of your own.
Framers in California start around $22.83 an hour and reach $57.67 at the top of the trade. Once you are working unsupervised the middle of the market sits near $36.50.
See the full framer salary guide →Employees work under their employer's licence. Contracting triggers licensing at $1,000, or with permits or employees. Employers provide safety instruction and workers' compensation. C-5 and B cover framing contracts.
Paid carpentry apprenticeship combines work and classes. College workshops develop layout and assembly skills, while specialist fall-protection instruction builds knowledge for working around unfinished floors, open edges and roof framing.
Certificates get you past the first filter. These are the things foremen and recruiters decide on, and they change depending on which level you are applying at.
No signed record of your supervised hours
Long gaps with no explanation at all
Leaving three or four shops inside a year
No OSHA card when the site requires one
Certifications that lapsed and were never renewed
Listing a licence as 'in progress' as though it is held
No supervisor anyone can call
The realistic route, start to finish. Most of it is paid — you are earning from the point you are taken on, not from the point you are licensed.
Sorted by payback speed.
| Certification | Rate bump | Extra / year | Cost | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Carpenters Training Fund Apprenticeship (journeyperson) | +$5.44 | $11,315 | $0 | 0 weeks |
| Carpenters Training Committee for Northern California Apprenticeship (journeyperson) | +$3.51 | $7,301 | $0 | 0 weeks |
| OSHA 30-Hour Construction | +$2.52 | $5,242 | $159 | 2 weeks |
| OSHA 10-Hour Construction | +$0.84 | $1,747 | $59 | 2 weeks |
| Fall Protection Competent Person | +$0.67 | $1,394 | $149 | 6 weeks |
| Aerial/Scissor Lift (MEWP) Operator | +$0.21 | $437 | $59 | 8 weeks |
Build a free profile and get matched with verified employers.
© 2026 American Recruits
