A person working as Carpenter in Kenya typically earns around 55,500 KES. Salaries range from 28,900 KES (lowest) to 84,900 KES (highest).
This is the average salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Carpenter salaries in Kenya vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location. Below you will find a detailed breakdown based on many different criteria.
![]() 28,900 KES |
![]() 50,500 KES |
![]() 84,900 KES |
Salaries for the position Carpenter in Kenya range from 28,900 KES (starting salary) to 84,900 KES (maximum salary). It should be noted that the given figure is not the legally mandated minimum wage; rather, it represents the lowest figure reported in a salary survey that included thousands of participants and professionals from all regions of the country.
With a median salary of 50,500 KES, half of the professionals who work as Carpenter in Kenya earn less than this amount, and the other half earn more. The median salary denotes the middle value of salaries. Ideally, you would want to belong to the group earning more than the median salary, located on the right side of the salary distribution graph.
The median is closely associated with two other values known as the 25th and 75th percentiles. By examining the salary distribution chart, it can be determined that 25% of professionals employed as Carpenter in Kenya earn less than 41,800 KES, while 75% earn more. Similarly, the chart shows that 75% earn less than 57,300 KES while 25% earn more.
To provide a better understanding of expected salaries, we categorized the frequently occurring salaries into different ranges. This approach provides a more precise representation of salary distribution for the job title Carpenter in Kenya compared to simply calculating the average. The majority of reported salaries, approximately 65%, fall within the range of 32,700 KES to 44,700 KES. About 20% of salaries are below the 32,700 KES mark, while 10% fall within the range of 44,700 KES to 50,200 KES. Only 5% of individuals have salaries exceeding 50,200 KES.
0 - 2 Years | 32,800 KES | |
2 - 5 Years | +34% | 44,000 KES |
5 - 10 Years | +30% | 57,100 KES |
10 - 15 Years | +21% | 69,200 KES |
15 - 20 Years | +9% | 75,600 KES |
20+ Years | +5% | 79,600 KES |
The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally, the more years of experience the higher the wage. We broke down salaries by experience level for people working as Carpenter and this is what we found.
Employees with less than two years of experience earn approximately 32,800 KES.
While someone with an experience level between two and five years is expected to earn 44,000 KES, 34% more than someone with less than two year's experience.
Moving forward, an experience level between five and ten years lands a salary of 57,100 KES, 30% more than someone with two to five years of experience.
Additionally, professionals whose expertise span anywhere between ten and fifteen years get a salary equivalent to 69,200 KES, 21% more than someone with five to ten years of experience.
If the experience level is between fifteen and twenty years, then the expected wage is 75,600 KES, 9% more than someone with ten to fifteen years of experience.
Lastly, employees with more than twenty years of professional experience get a salary of 79,600 KES, 5% more than people with fifteen to twenty years of experience.
High School | 38,900 KES | |
Certificate or Diploma | +43% | 55,700 KES |
Bachelor's Degree | +38% | 77,000 KES |
We all know that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We broke down salaries by education level for the position Carpenter in order to make a comparison.
Employees at this education level have an average salary of 38,900 KES.
At this level, the average salary becomes 55,700 KES, 43% more than the previous level.
At this level, the average salary becomes 77,000 KES, 38% more than the previous level.
Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? For the people who work as Carpenter in Kenya, the average difference between the salary of male and female employees is 10%.
Male | 58,500 KES | |
Female | -9% | 53,400 KES |
Individuals working as Carpenter in Kenya are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 4% every 30 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 4% granted to employees every 29 months.
The term Annual Salary Increase usually refers to the increase in 12 calendar month period, but because it is rare that people get their salaries reviewed exactly on the one-year mark, it is more meaningful to know the frequency and the rate at the time of the increase.
The annual salary Increase in a calendar year (12 months) can be easily calculated as follows: Annual Salary Increase = Increase Rate x 12 / Increase Frequency
Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.
91% of surveyed staff reported that they haven't received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 9% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.
Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 1% to 3% of their annual salary.
Received Bonus | 9% | |
No Bonus | 91% |
The most standard form of bonus, where the employee is awarded based on their exceptional performance.
Company Performance BonusesOccasionally, some companies like to celebrate excess earnings and profits with their staff collectively in the form of bonuses that are granted to everyone. The amount of the bonus will probably be different from person to person depending on their role within the organization.
Goal-Based BonusesGranted upon achieving an important goal or milestone.
Holiday / End of Year BonusesThese types of bonuses are given without a reason and usually resemble an appreciation token.
People tend to confuse bonuses with commissions. A commission is a prefixed rate at which someone gets paid for items sold or deals completed while a bonus is in most cases arbitrary and unplanned.
The main two types of jobs | |
Revenue Generators | Supporting Cast |
Employees that are directly involved in generating revenue or profit for the organization. Their field of expertise usually matches the type of business. | Employees that support and facilitate the work of revenue generators. Their expertise is usually different from that of the core business operations. |
Example: | Example: |
Revenue generators usually get more and higher bonuses, higher salaries, and more frequent salary increments. The reason is quite simple: it is easier to quantify your value to the company in monetary terms when you participate in revenue generation.
Top management personnel and senior employees naturally exhibit higher bonus rates and frequencies than juniors. This is very predictable due to the inherent responsibilities of being higher in the hierarchy. People in top positions can easily get double or triple bonus rates than employees down the pyramid.
The hourly wage is the salary paid in one worked hour. Usually, jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs. Salaried jobs pay a fixed amount regardless of the hours worked. Hourly jobs pay per worked hour. To convert salary into hourly wage the above formula is used (assuming 5 working days in a week and 8 working hours per day which is the standard for most jobs). The hourly wage calculation may differ slightly depending on the worked hours per week and the annual vacation allowance. The figures mentioned above are good approximations and are considered to be the standard. One major difference between salaried employees and hourly paid employees is overtime eligibility. Salaried employees are usually exempt from overtime as opposed to hourly paid staff.
The minimum pay rate per hour for people working as Carpenter in Kenya is 170 KES. This is the minimum as per the gathered data in the salary survey not the minimum hourly rate mandated by law.
Job Title | Average Salary |
Construction / Building / Installation | ![]() | |
3D Printing Construction Technician | 102,000 KES | ![]() |
Adjudicator | 59,900 KES | ![]() |
Assembler | 50,700 KES | ![]() |
Boat Builder and Shipwright | 73,900 KES | ![]() |
Bricklayer | 42,700 KES | ![]() |
Building Administrator | 64,000 KES | ![]() |
Building Automation Engineer | 133,000 KES | ![]() |
Building Contracts Manager | 213,000 KES | ![]() |
Building Information Modeling Manager | 183,000 KES | ![]() |
Building Inspector | 61,900 KES | ![]() |
Building Monitor | 45,600 KES | ![]() |
Building Sales Manager | 195,000 KES | ![]() |
Building Systems Integration Specialist | 136,000 KES | ![]() |
Cabinetmaker | 49,400 KES | ![]() |
Carpenter | 55,500 KES | ![]() |
Civil Engineer | 139,000 KES | ![]() |
Civil Technician | 70,900 KES | ![]() |
Concreter | 44,300 KES | ![]() |
Construction and Building Inspector | 62,400 KES | ![]() |
Construction and Maintenance Manager | 111,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Assistant | 57,400 KES | ![]() |
Construction Coordinator | 83,500 KES | ![]() |
Construction Data Analyst | 129,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Estimator | 93,800 KES | ![]() |
Construction Field Engineer | 126,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction General Manager | 251,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Inventory Officer | 46,700 KES | ![]() |
Construction Manager | 272,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Operations Manager | 249,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Project Controls Manager | 196,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Project Coordinator | 144,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Project Engineer | 146,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Project Manager | 257,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Project Planner | 133,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Quality Control Manager | 195,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Robotics Engineer | 153,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Safety Officer | 89,200 KES | ![]() |
Construction Superintendent | 91,100 KES | ![]() |
Construction Supervisor | 132,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Technical Assistant | 55,100 KES | ![]() |
Construction Technical Officer | 64,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Technical Writer | 55,500 KES | ![]() |
Construction Technician | 51,700 KES | ![]() |
Construction Waste Management Consultant | 133,000 KES | ![]() |
Construction Worker | 41,500 KES | ![]() |
Crane and Tower Operator | 50,600 KES | ![]() |
Crane Operator | 50,100 KES | ![]() |
Diesel Mechanic | 45,100 KES | ![]() |
Digital Construction Manager | 155,000 KES | ![]() |
Draughtsman | 41,200 KES | ![]() |
Drywall Installer | 50,100 KES | ![]() |
Electrical Draftsman | 51,500 KES | ![]() |
Electrical Engineering Supervisor | 155,000 KES | ![]() |
Electrical Engineering Technician | 63,700 KES | ![]() |
Electrical Supervisor | 98,400 KES | ![]() |
Electrician | 72,900 KES | ![]() |
Elevator Installer and Repairer | 62,100 KES | ![]() |
Engineer | 143,000 KES | ![]() |
Excavator Operator | 50,200 KES | ![]() |
Field Inspector | 82,400 KES | ![]() |
Floor Finisher | 55,600 KES | ![]() |
Floor Manager | 76,700 KES | ![]() |
Foreman | 42,200 KES | ![]() |
Frame and Truss Detailer | 46,000 KES | ![]() |
Furniture Finisher | 49,700 KES | ![]() |
Gas Technician | 46,300 KES | ![]() |
Handyman | 44,400 KES | ![]() |
Health and Safety Coordinator | 62,800 KES | ![]() |
Health and Safety Officer | 67,500 KES | ![]() |
Installation Manager | 158,000 KES | ![]() |
Installer | 42,400 KES | ![]() |
Insulation Installer | 47,800 KES | ![]() |
Labourer | 38,400 KES | ![]() |
Land Surveyor | 61,300 KES | ![]() |
Lean Construction Specialist | 135,000 KES | ![]() |
Lift Technician | 47,900 KES | ![]() |
Maintenance Foreman | 43,700 KES | ![]() |
Material Tester | 73,300 KES | ![]() |
Model Maker | 73,900 KES | ![]() |
Order Picker | 44,000 KES | ![]() |
Painter | 45,400 KES | ![]() |
Pipe Layer | 39,200 KES | ![]() |
Pipe Welder | 39,700 KES | ![]() |
Pipefitter | 39,600 KES | ![]() |
Plumber | 52,700 KES | ![]() |
Prefabrication and Modular Construction Specialist | 139,000 KES | ![]() |
Property Coordinator | 124,000 KES | ![]() |
Purchasing Manager | 177,000 KES | ![]() |
Quantity Estimator | 93,700 KES | ![]() |
Quantity Surveyor | 86,500 KES | ![]() |
Roof Slater and Tiler | 41,600 KES | ![]() |
Sheet Metal Mechanic | 46,500 KES | ![]() |
Sheet Metal Worker | 42,700 KES | ![]() |
Site Clerk | 45,700 KES | ![]() |
Site engineer | 123,000 KES | ![]() |
Site Leader | 220,000 KES | ![]() |
Stock Controller | 71,900 KES | ![]() |
Structural Steel Construction Worker | 52,000 KES | ![]() |
Sustainable Materials Engineer | 141,000 KES | ![]() |
Technical Draughtsman | 58,200 KES | ![]() |
Tender Manager | 209,000 KES | ![]() |
Tendering Manager | 203,000 KES | ![]() |
Tower Crane Operator | 45,500 KES | ![]() |
Wall and Floor Tiler | 45,800 KES | ![]() |
Warehouse Manager | 162,000 KES | ![]() |
Welder | 42,100 KES | ![]() |
Welding Superintendent | 55,800 KES | ![]() |
Where can you get paid more, working in a private company or the government? The difference between the public or government sector salaries and the private sector salaries in Kenya is 14% on average across all career fields.
Private Sector | 140,000 KES | |
Public Sector | +14% | 159,000 KES |
A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 50,500 KES and 57,300 KES. This is a very rough estimate. Experience and education play a very huge part in the final earnings.
All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salary after tax for every career.
The base salary for a careers like Carpenter in Kenya ranges from 28,900 KES to 41,800 KES. The base salary depends on many factors including experience and education. It is not easy to provide a figure with very little information, so take this range with a grain of salt.
Both are indicators. If your salary is higher than both the average and the median then you are doing very well. If your salary is lower than both, then many people earn more than you and there is plenty of room for improvement. If your wage is between the average and the median, then things can be a bit complicated. We wrote a guide to explain all about the different scenarios. How to compare your salary