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.
Hiring guide · California
Recruit for accurate layout, safe assembly and the framing package.
Decide whether you need employees assembling walls or a contractor delivering framing. California licensing and employment duties follow that arrangement. Assess layout, openings and sheathing against your drawings, then recruit through training offices. Budget with broader carpenter wages and a clear schedule for inspection and handover.
Candidate availability moves week to week. What does not move is the screening: the certifications below are what decide whether someone can be badged onto your site at all.
The levels are separated by what the state allows a person to do unsupervised, not by how good they are. Hiring the wrong level is the most common and most expensive mistake on a trade requisition.
Productive under supervision and cheap, but they cannot be left on a task the state licenses, and they need someone qualified with them.
Works unsupervised and can carry a helper. This is the level almost every requisition is actually describing.
Runs crews across sites, owns compliance outcomes, and where the trade allows, pulls permits and qualifies the work.
Budget $36.50 an hour for a qualified framer in California, from $22.83 at entry level to $57.67 at the top. Add a quarter to a third on top for payroll taxes, insurance and equipment, and price overtime at time and a half.
See the full framer salary guide →California framing contractors need appropriate C-5 or B authority. Licensing applies at $1,000 or with permits or employees. Hiring requires classification, insurance and task-specific safety arrangements.
Contact these carpentry training offices and district employer services about recruitment routes and candidate experience.
Certificates get a candidate past the first filter. These are the questions that separate the ones who can do the work from the ones who have the paperwork, and they change by level.
Certifications listed with no issuing body or date
A licence described as 'in progress'
No supervisor anyone can call
Three or four employers inside a year
Long gaps with no explanation offered
Cards that lapsed and were never renewed
A realistic schedule for a certified framer, from writing the requisition to a badged start. The screening steps are where time is actually lost.
National carpenter wages provide framing recruitment context alongside California duties, schedules and benefits.
Commercial framing involves shared access and deliveries. Assess drawing interpretation and communication when other trades need the same openings.
Homes and additions call for accurate wall layouts. Ask candidates to explain opening dimensions and their sequence for floor-to-roof assembly.
Framing subcontractors belong within this wider group. Define sheathing and handover responsibilities so candidates understand the package they will help deliver.
Post a role and reach OSHA-certified candidates in your area.
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