Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers Salary: $51,473 Median Pay (2026 stats)
TL;DR
About 8,470 painting, coating, and decorating workers nationally earn a mean of $51,473. Employment in the series shown fell about 33% from the first to the last year; projections imply about 4.6% annual decline.
Key Statistics
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers: what the data shows
Common questions about painting, coating, and decorating workers careers, answered from BLS OEWS and O*NET in this repository.
What is a painting, coating, and decorating workers?
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers is tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics under SOC 51-9123.
U.S. employment in our OEWS extract is about 8,470 workers.
What does a painting, coating, and decorating workers do?
O*NET work activities rated highest for this occupation include Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events, Handling and Moving Objects, Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials, Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings, Getting Information, and related tasks. See Work Activities for the full list.
How much does a painting, coating, and decorating workers make?
BLS national median annual wage: $40,860 (May 2024 in our extract).
Mean annual wage in our occupational extract: $51,473 — higher than the median, which often reflects top earners in the distribution.
| Wage percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $36,761 |
| 25th percentile | $38,884 |
| Median (50th) | $45,574 |
| 75th percentile | $56,644 |
| 90th percentile | $81,626 |
What education do you need?
For Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers, O*NET incumbent surveys in our extract most often report: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
These are education levels of current workers, not minimum legal requirements.
What skills do you need?
O*NET ratings for this occupation emphasize skills such as Monitoring, Coordination, Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, and knowledge areas including Production and Processing, English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Education and Training. See Education & Skills for detail.
Is painting, coating, and decorating workers in demand?
Historical employment trend in our series implies about 4.6% annual decline (compound rate in the extract).
Five-year projected employment change: -21.2%.
Ten-year projected employment change: -37.9%.
Current U.S. headcount: 8,470.
We report federal series only—compare wages, growth, and openings against your target market.
Where do painting, coating, and decorating workerss work?
Top industries by employment share in our OEWS industry extract:
| Industry | Employment | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-industry | 8,470 | 21.3% |
| Cross-industry, Private Ownership only | 8,230 | 20.7% |
| Manufacturing | 5,740 | 14.4% |
| Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 1,150 | 2.9% |
| Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 1,130 | 2.8% |
| Food Manufacturing | 1,090 | 2.7% |
See Industry for charts.
What degrees lead to this career?
Common majors for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in O*NET:
See Related degrees.
What careers are related?
Other occupations linked through shared degree pathways in our mapping:
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median wage |
|---|---|---|
| Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 159,500 | $47,590 |
Employment
Employment and salary information for the Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers workforce.
Employment Over Time
8,470 Workforce in 2023
The Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers workforce has been growing over time.
Historical employment trends for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Yearly Wage Ranking
$51,473 Average Wage
In 2023, Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers earned an average of $51,473.
Wage ranking compared to other occupations.
Wage Distribution
This chart shows the distribution of average salaries by income buckets for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Salary distribution for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Employment Growth Projections
-4.6% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
2,664 Projected Employment (5 years)
Projected growth: -21.2%
2,099 Projected Employment (10 years)
Projected growth: -37.9%
This occupation is experiencing a decline. Consider related fields with better growth prospects.
Historical employment trends and future projections for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Industry
Information on the industries that employ Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers and on wages for those in the field.
Occupations by Industries
This graphic shows the share of Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers employed by various industries.
Industry distribution for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Wage Trends by Industry
-17.3% Average Annual Wage Growth Rate
Historical wage growth trends by industry for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Geographic Distribution
Employment and wage information by geographic location for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Metropolitan employment on this page is from the California OEWS extract. Area names omit state codes; all listed metros are in California, so the state chart shows California totals (not a multi-state ranking).
Top States by Employment
Top States by Employment:
- CA: 760 employees, $51,647 avg wage
Top 10 states by employment for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Top Metropolitan Areas
Top Metropolitan Areas:
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD: 330 employees, $52,012 avg wage
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA: 100 employees, $46,990 avg wage
- Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD: 100 employees, $51,608 avg wage
- Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA: 60 employees, $57,906 avg wage
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA: 50 employees, $46,559 avg wage
- Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD: 40 employees, $56,231 avg wage
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA: 30 employees, $49,247 avg wage
- San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD: 30 employees, $57,838 avg wage
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA: 20 employees, $48,200 avg wage
Top 10 metropolitan statistical areas by employment for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Diversity
Demographic information on Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in the US.
Gender and Age
The workforce of Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in 2023 was 8,470 people, with 62.0% women and 38.0% men.
Gender and age distribution for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Races
Racial and ethnic shares when present in the career dataset. If the chart area shows a notice instead, occupational race/ethnicity fields are not yet populated for this extract.
Race and ethnicity distribution for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Education & Skills
Data on higher education choices and required skills for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Majors
The most common majors achieved by Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in 2023 were Business Administration, Business, Social Sciences.
Common majors for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Education Levels
The main educational levels achieved by Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers workers.
Education level distribution for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Skills
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers need many skills, but most especially Monitoring, Coordination, Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Critical Thinking.
Required skills for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Knowledge & Abilities
Knowledge areas and abilities required for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Knowledge Areas
The most important knowledge areas for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers include Production and Processing, English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Education and Training, Design.
Knowledge areas required for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Abilities
Key abilities needed for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers include Near Vision, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Visual Color Discrimination, Manual Dexterity, Problem Sensitivity.
Required abilities for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Work Activities
Common work activities performed by Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
Daily Activities
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers spend their time on activities such as Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events, Handling and Moving Objects, Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials, Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings.
Most important work activities for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.
About
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
The average yearly wage for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers was $51,473 in 2023.
SOC Code
51-9123 - Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
Insights and Analysis
Compensation snapshot: Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers reports an average salary of $51,473.
Labor market presence: The current workforce is approximately 8,470 workers, indicating sustained demand.
Forward outlook: Projected annual decline is -4.6%, which should inform long-term career planning.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS), and O*NET Online.
All wage figures represent annual averages and may vary by location, industry, and experience level.