Framing Cost Calculator for Virginia - Free 2026 Cost Estimates

Virginia 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 Virginia, carpenters — the core trade for framing work — earn a mean wage of $26.63/hr ($55,390 per year) in the 2025 BLS OEWS release. That is 16% below the national average (national mean $65,630 per year). Virginia employs about 20,460 carpenters statewide. Related trades that price into a typical framing job include construction laborers ($43,670/yr), first-line supervisors of construction trades ($81,790/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 Virginia 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 Virginia, BLS reports mean wages of carpenters at $55,390 per year ($26.63/hr); construction laborers at $43,670 per year ($21.00/hr); first-line supervisors of construction trades at $81,790 per year ($39.32/hr). The spread between first-line supervisors of construction trades ($81,790) and construction laborers ($43,670) reflects differences in skill, certification, and supervisory responsibility on Virginia job sites, and it is why a detailed, line-item estimate beats a single blended rate when you are budgeting framing work.

Half of Virginia carpenters earn less than the median of $55,690 per year — above the $55,390 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 20,460 carpenters, 25,830 construction laborers, 24,970 first-line supervisors of construction trades employed across Virginia, 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 Virginia, 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 $26.63/hr mean wage shown above. Because Virginia'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 Virginia 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 Virginia contractors.