Framing Cost Calculator for Kentucky - Free 2026 Cost Estimates

Kentucky Framing Labor Costs — Verified from BLS OEWS (2025)

Every figure on this page is a published U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics value. Last verified 2026-06-20.

In Kentucky, carpenters — the core trade for framing work — earn a mean wage of $26.36/hr ($54,820 per year) in the 2025 BLS OEWS release. That is 16% below the national average (national mean $65,630 per year). Kentucky employs about 8,540 carpenters statewide. Related trades that price into a typical framing job include construction laborers ($45,840/yr), first-line supervisors of construction trades ($74,220/yr). Because labor is the largest variable cost on most framing projects, these published state wage levels are the biggest single reason framing costs differ between Kentucky and other states. Every figure here is a mean value published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and is refreshed automatically when BLS releases new OEWS data.

Across the trades that touch a typical framing job in Kentucky, BLS reports mean wages of carpenters at $54,820 per year ($26.36/hr); construction laborers at $45,840 per year ($22.04/hr); first-line supervisors of construction trades at $74,220 per year ($35.68/hr). The spread between first-line supervisors of construction trades ($74,220) and construction laborers ($45,840) reflects differences in skill, certification, and supervisory responsibility on Kentucky job sites, and it is why a detailed, line-item estimate beats a single blended rate when you are budgeting framing work.

Half of Kentucky carpenters earn less than the median of $52,680 per year — below the $54,820 mean, which a smaller number of higher earners pulls upward. For budgeting, the median is often the more realistic figure for routine framing crews. BLS counts roughly 8,540 carpenters, 13,280 construction laborers, 9,620 first-line supervisors of construction trades employed across Kentucky, a measure of how deep the local framing-trade labor pool is and how much competition for crews you can expect when scheduling work.

When you budget a framing job in Kentucky, treat these BLS wage levels as the labor-rate floor: a crew's billed rate adds overhead, insurance, equipment, and margin on top of the $26.36/hr mean wage shown above. Because Kentucky's carpenters wages sit 16% below the national average, a framing quote that comes in far below these published rates is worth a second look — labor that cheap usually signals a different scope, materials, or crew experience. Use the calculator on this page to combine these Kentucky labor rates with your project's material quantities for a complete estimate.

Wages are statewide means published by BLS and reflect labor cost only — not the total installed cost of a project. Use the calculator below for a full materials-and-labor estimate, and always obtain written bids from licensed Kentucky contractors.