UnionCarpenters Northern California wages 2026 (California)
The hourly rates, overtime, shift, vacation and per diem rules of Carpenters Northern California in California, read from the four agreements built into the Carpenter app. An independent guide: the agreement and your hall have the final word.
Area 1 (Bay Area counties)
Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Master Agreement, as published by California's Department of Industrial Relations (NC-23-31-1-2026-1), Area 1: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties
$70.26an hour
Carpenter, Area 1 (Bay Area counties)
From July 1, 2026. No later step published.
| Classification | From July 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Carpenterbase rate | $70.26 |
| Hardwood floorlayer, power saw, saw filer, shingler, steel scaffold and shoring erector | $70.41 |
| Apprentice, period 8 (6 months each)95% | $66.75 |
| Apprentice, period 790% | $63.23 |
| Apprentice, period 685% | $59.72 |
| Apprentice, period 580% | $56.21 |
| Apprentice, period 475% | $52.70 |
| Apprentice, period 370% | $49.18 |
| Apprentice, period 265% | $45.67 |
| Apprentice, period 160% | $42.16 |
- Overtime
- Overtime (DIR footnotes, building work): the first 4 overtime hours in a day are time and a half, then double time; Saturday's first 8 hours are time and a half, then double time; Sundays and holidays are double time.
- Shift premium
- 7.5 hours worked on shift are paid as 8.
- Per diem and travel
- 50 road miles or more: $75 subsistence a day worked.
Area 2 (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz)
Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Master Agreement, as published by California's Department of Industrial Relations (NC-23-31-1-2026-1), Area 2: Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties
$64.38 an hour, carpenter, from July 1, 2026.
| Classification | From July 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Carpenterbase rate | $64.38 |
| Apprentice, period 8 (6 months each)95% | $61.16 |
| Apprentice, period 790% | $57.94 |
| Apprentice, period 685% | $54.72 |
| Apprentice, period 580% | $51.50 |
| Apprentice, period 475% | $48.29 |
| Apprentice, period 370% | $45.07 |
| Apprentice, period 265% | $41.85 |
| Apprentice, period 160% | $38.63 |
- Overtime
- Overtime (DIR footnotes, building work): the first 4 overtime hours in a day are time and a half, then double time; Saturday's first 8 hours are time and a half, then double time; Sundays and holidays are double time.
- Shift premium
- 7.5 hours worked on shift are paid as 8.
- Per diem and travel
- 50 road miles or more: $75 subsistence a day worked.
Area 3 (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, west El Dorado and Placer)
Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Master Agreement, as published by California's Department of Industrial Relations (NC-23-31-1-2026-1), Area 3: El Dorado and Placer counties west of Highway 49, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Yolo counties
$64.38 an hour, carpenter, from July 1, 2026.
| Classification | From July 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Carpenterbase rate | $64.38 |
| Apprentice, period 8 (6 months each)95% | $61.16 |
| Apprentice, period 790% | $57.94 |
| Apprentice, period 685% | $54.72 |
| Apprentice, period 580% | $51.50 |
| Apprentice, period 475% | $48.29 |
| Apprentice, period 370% | $45.07 |
| Apprentice, period 265% | $41.85 |
| Apprentice, period 160% | $38.63 |
- Overtime
- Overtime (DIR footnotes, building work): the first 4 overtime hours in a day are time and a half, then double time; Saturday's first 8 hours are time and a half, then double time; Sundays and holidays are double time.
- Shift premium
- 7.5 hours worked on shift are paid as 8.
- Per diem and travel
- 50 road miles or more: $75 subsistence a day worked.
Area 4 (the other 31 northern counties)
Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Master Agreement, as published by California's Department of Industrial Relations (NC-23-31-1-2026-1), Area 4: the other 31 of the 46 northern counties
$63.03 an hour, carpenter, from July 1, 2026.
| Classification | From July 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Carpenterbase rate | $63.03 |
| Apprentice, period 8 (6 months each)95% | $59.88 |
| Apprentice, period 790% | $56.73 |
| Apprentice, period 685% | $53.58 |
| Apprentice, period 580% | $50.42 |
| Apprentice, period 475% | $47.27 |
| Apprentice, period 370% | $44.12 |
| Apprentice, period 265% | $40.97 |
| Apprentice, period 160% | $37.82 |
- Overtime
- Overtime (DIR footnotes, building work): the first 4 overtime hours in a day are time and a half, then double time; Saturday's first 8 hours are time and a half, then double time; Sundays and holidays are double time.
- Shift premium
- 7.5 hours worked on shift are paid as 8.
- Per diem and travel
- 50 road miles or more: $75 subsistence a day worked.
One 40-hour week, worked out
Week of October 25, 2026Carpenter, Area 1 (Bay Area counties)
Example| Day | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours | 0 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| Earnings | |
| Regular40 h × 70.26 | 2,810.40 |
| Vacation and work fee (taxable)40 h × 6.28 | 251.20 |
| Gross pay | 3,061.60 |
| Deductions | |
| Work fee (union dues)per hour | −111.20 |
| Vacation sent to the fundper hour | −140.00 |
| Social Security6.2% | −189.82 |
| Medicare1.45% | −44.39 |
| CA SDI | −39.80 |
| Federal income taxestimate (W-4) | −518.13 |
| California income taxestimate | −226.60 |
What's missing
Where the app can't follow a rule to the letter yet, its notes say so, and say how to allow for it when you enter your hours. From this page's agreements:
- Area 1 (Bay Area counties). DIR issued the 2026 rates on August 22 and doesn't print the contract's start date; the app starts them on July 1 2026 (the 2025 determination called the rates after June 30 2026 predetermined). The floorlayer group's 2025 rate isn't in our source: before July 1 2026 the app uses the 2025 carpenter rate + $0.15 (the 2026 difference). DIR shows no increase after this one (it expires June 30 2027): after that, type your new rate under Enter my own rate.
- Area 1 (Bay Area counties). On heavy and highway work Saturday's first 10 hours are time and a half; the app uses the building rule.
- Area 1 (Bay Area counties). The app treats every night as a 2nd shift (a 3rd shift's rate isn't in our source). Shift rates don't apply to tenant-improvement jobs in occupied buildings under $5 million: leave Night off there.
- Area 1 (Bay Area counties). Every hour on a ticked union day is time and a half (the page gives the rate for the first 8), and a holiday on a Saturday or Sunday stays on its date (the page doesn't say it moves).
- Area 1 (Bay Area counties). The split isn't printed. A 1st-period apprentice (who gets no vacation) shows $2.78, so the app takes the work fee as $2.78 and the vacation as $3.50 an hour, and uses those for every class and every week; for a 1st-period apprentice the app adds and takes back $3.50 an hour that isn't really there, so the tax shown is a little high.
- Area 2 (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz). DIR issued the 2026 rates on August 22 and doesn't print the contract's start date; the app starts them on July 1 2026 (the 2025 determination called the rates after June 30 2026 predetermined). DIR's apprentice page in our source is Area 1's: the app works out Area 2's apprentice rates as Area 2's journeyman rate times the percentage, rounded to the cent. DIR shows no increase after this one (it expires June 30 2027): after that, type your new rate under Enter my own rate.
- Area 2 (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz). On heavy and highway work Saturday's first 10 hours are time and a half; the app uses the building rule.
- Area 2 (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz). The app treats every night as a 2nd shift (a 3rd shift's rate isn't in our source). Shift rates don't apply to tenant-improvement jobs in occupied buildings under $5 million: leave Night off there.
- Area 2 (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz). Every hour on a ticked union day is time and a half (the page gives the rate for the first 8), and a holiday on a Saturday or Sunday stays on its date (the page doesn't say it moves).
- Area 2 (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz). The split isn't printed. A 1st-period apprentice (who gets no vacation) shows $2.78, so the app takes the work fee as $2.78 and the vacation as $3.50 an hour, and uses those for every class and every week; for a 1st-period apprentice the app adds and takes back $3.50 an hour that isn't really there, so the tax shown is a little high.
- Area 3 (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, west El Dorado and Placer). DIR issued the 2026 rates on August 22 and doesn't print the contract's start date; the app starts them on July 1 2026 (the 2025 determination called the rates after June 30 2026 predetermined). DIR's apprentice page in our source is Area 1's: the app works out Area 3's apprentice rates as Area 3's journeyman rate times the percentage, rounded to the cent. DIR shows no increase after this one (it expires June 30 2027): after that, type your new rate under Enter my own rate.
- Area 3 (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, west El Dorado and Placer). On heavy and highway work Saturday's first 10 hours are time and a half; the app uses the building rule.
- Area 3 (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, west El Dorado and Placer). The app treats every night as a 2nd shift (a 3rd shift's rate isn't in our source). Shift rates don't apply to tenant-improvement jobs in occupied buildings under $5 million: leave Night off there.
- Area 3 (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, west El Dorado and Placer). Every hour on a ticked union day is time and a half (the page gives the rate for the first 8), and a holiday on a Saturday or Sunday stays on its date (the page doesn't say it moves).
- Area 3 (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, west El Dorado and Placer). The split isn't printed. A 1st-period apprentice (who gets no vacation) shows $2.78, so the app takes the work fee as $2.78 and the vacation as $3.50 an hour, and uses those for every class and every week; for a 1st-period apprentice the app adds and takes back $3.50 an hour that isn't really there, so the tax shown is a little high.
- Area 4 (the other 31 northern counties). DIR issued the 2026 rates on August 22 and doesn't print the contract's start date; the app starts them on July 1 2026 (the 2025 determination called the rates after June 30 2026 predetermined). DIR's apprentice page in our source is Area 1's: the app works out Area 4's apprentice rates as Area 4's journeyman rate times the percentage, rounded to the cent. DIR shows no increase after this one (it expires June 30 2027): after that, type your new rate under Enter my own rate.
- Area 4 (the other 31 northern counties). On heavy and highway work Saturday's first 10 hours are time and a half; the app uses the building rule.
- Area 4 (the other 31 northern counties). The app treats every night as a 2nd shift (a 3rd shift's rate isn't in our source). Shift rates don't apply to tenant-improvement jobs in occupied buildings under $5 million: leave Night off there.
- Area 4 (the other 31 northern counties). Every hour on a ticked union day is time and a half (the page gives the rate for the first 8), and a holiday on a Saturday or Sunday stays on its date (the page doesn't say it moves).
- Area 4 (the other 31 northern counties). The split isn't printed. A 1st-period apprentice (who gets no vacation) shows $2.78, so the app takes the work fee as $2.78 and the vacation as $3.50 an hour, and uses those for every class and every week; for a 1st-period apprentice the app adds and takes back $3.50 an hour that isn't really there, so the tax shown is a little high.
Enter your own hours in the Carpenter app: it applies these rates, the overtime and holiday rules, dues and tax, and keeps a year of paychecks. Free for a month.
Your agreement isn't here, or a number is wrong? Send us your agreement from the app's Settings tab. If the app doesn't have it yet, you get a free year when it's added.
Questions
What does a Northern California carpenter make in 2026?
$70.26 an hour under the Carpenters 46 Northern California Counties Master Agreement, as published by California's Department of Industrial Relations (NC-23-31-1-2026-1), Area 1: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties, from July 1, 2026. The other agreements on this page: Area 2 (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz) $64.38, Area 3 (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, west El Dorado and Placer) $64.38 and Area 4 (the other 31 northern counties) $63.03.
When is the next Northern California raise?
No later step is published in the data for the Area 1 (Bay Area counties) agreement. Rates usually change once a year; check the schedule before you count on a raise.
What do Northern California apprentices make?
Apprentice, period 8 (6 months each) $66.75 (95%), Apprentice, period 7 $63.23 (90%), Apprentice, period 6 $59.72 (85%), Apprentice, period 5 $56.21 (80%), Apprentice, period 4 $52.70 (75%), Apprentice, period 3 $49.18 (70%), Apprentice, period 2 $45.67 (65%) and Apprentice, period 1 $42.16 (60%) an hour from July 1, 2026.
Does Northern California pay a per diem?
50 road miles or more: $75 subsistence a day worked.
How is Northern California overtime paid?
Overtime (DIR footnotes, building work): the first 4 overtime hours in a day are time and a half, then double time; Saturday's first 8 hours are time and a half, then double time; Sundays and holidays are double time.
Sources
The agreements and schedules these numbers were read from. Built October 15, 2026 from the Carpenter app, version 0.1.0.
Independent. Not affiliated with any union. Check your agreement.