In this article
- Painter wages by state: the full table
- The highest and lowest paying states for painters
- What to pay a new painter, using the percentiles
- From the wage to what an hour of painting costs you
- What a state wage means for a wall
- Why the rate near you can differ from the state figure
- Method and source
- Frequently asked questions
The median painter in the United States earned $23.75 an hour, or $49,400 a year, in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By state, the median runs from $19.28 an hour in Arkansas to $32.80 in Hawaii. The table below gives every state, with the cost of that wage once burden is added.
The figures cover the occupation the BLS calls Painters, Construction and Maintenance, code 47-2141: people employed to paint buildings and structures. They come straight from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, the same release behind the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook page for painters. The last two columns are estimates of what that wage costs a painting business, explained further down, using defaults you should replace with your own.
Free download: painter wages by state
- All 50 states and DC, plus the national figure
- Median, 25th and 10th percentile hourly wages and employment
- Excel version recalculates when you change the burden or production rate
- Free to reuse with a link back to this page
Painter wages by state: the full table
Each row shows how many painters the state employs, the median and 25th percentile hourly wage, the median annual wage, the loaded hourly cost and the labor cost of rolling 1,000 square feet of wall with two coats at that loaded cost. States are in alphabetical order; the download versions can be sorted.
| State | Painters employed | Median hourly | 25th percentile hourly | Median annual | Loaded hourly cost | Wall labor, 1,000 sq ft, two coats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 225,190 | $23.75 | $21.46 | $49,400 | $31.35 | $314 |
| Alabama | 1,570 | $21.12 | $18.00 | $43,930 | $27.88 | $279 |
| Alaska | 440 | $29.32 | $26.30 | $60,980 | $38.70 | $387 |
| Arizona | 5,210 | $23.20 | $21.81 | $48,250 | $30.62 | $306 |
| Arkansas | 890 | $19.28 | $17.76 | $40,090 | $25.45 | $254 |
| California | 38,430 | $28.38 | $22.85 | $59,020 | $37.46 | $375 |
| Colorado | 3,480 | $25.47 | $22.70 | $52,970 | $33.62 | $336 |
| Connecticut | 2,230 | $28.12 | $22.90 | $58,480 | $37.12 | $371 |
| Delaware | 480 | $28.14 | $24.36 | $58,530 | $37.14 | $371 |
| District of Columbia | 500 | $28.61 | $22.77 | $59,520 | $37.77 | $378 |
| Florida | 22,450 | $22.85 | $19.20 | $47,530 | $30.16 | $302 |
| Georgia | 2,760 | $23.24 | $20.26 | $48,340 | $30.68 | $307 |
| Hawaii | 1,900 | $32.80 | $28.59 | $68,220 | $43.30 | $433 |
| Idaho | 2,040 | $21.58 | $17.73 | $44,880 | $28.49 | $285 |
| Illinois | 6,820 | $29.45 | $23.07 | $61,260 | $38.87 | $389 |
| Indiana | 3,510 | $24.16 | $20.76 | $50,260 | $31.89 | $319 |
| Iowa | 1,770 | $23.90 | $20.70 | $49,710 | $31.55 | $315 |
| Kansas | 1,570 | $21.88 | $17.88 | $45,510 | $28.88 | $289 |
| Kentucky | 1,390 | $23.13 | $19.33 | $48,110 | $30.53 | $305 |
| Louisiana | 4,090 | $22.31 | $18.74 | $46,410 | $29.45 | $294 |
| Maine | 2,120 | $28.50 | $24.12 | $59,270 | $37.62 | $376 |
| Maryland | 3,750 | $23.62 | $22.37 | $49,120 | $31.18 | $312 |
| Massachusetts | 4,430 | $27.65 | $22.51 | $57,510 | $36.50 | $365 |
| Michigan | 4,920 | $24.35 | $21.78 | $50,650 | $32.14 | $321 |
| Minnesota | 3,810 | $27.54 | $20.96 | $57,270 | $36.35 | $364 |
| Mississippi | 1,060 | $21.54 | $17.75 | $44,800 | $28.43 | $284 |
| Missouri | 3,980 | $27.65 | $22.28 | $57,510 | $36.50 | $365 |
| Montana | 920 | $28.03 | $22.78 | $58,290 | $37.00 | $370 |
| Nebraska | 1,590 | $22.73 | $18.19 | $47,280 | $30.00 | $300 |
| Nevada | 4,120 | $27.11 | $22.57 | $56,390 | $35.79 | $358 |
| New Hampshire | 910 | $23.88 | $22.39 | $49,670 | $31.52 | $315 |
| New Jersey | 4,110 | $28.49 | $21.87 | $59,250 | $37.61 | $376 |
| New Mexico | 1,010 | $22.23 | $19.48 | $46,240 | $29.34 | $293 |
| New York | 13,040 | $28.64 | $23.47 | $59,570 | $37.80 | $378 |
| North Carolina | 5,220 | $21.21 | $17.83 | $44,110 | $28.00 | $280 |
| North Dakota | 420 | $26.38 | $22.75 | $54,870 | $34.82 | $348 |
| Ohio | 5,600 | $23.77 | $21.17 | $49,450 | $31.38 | $314 |
| Oklahoma | 1,880 | $21.59 | $17.64 | $44,900 | $28.50 | $285 |
| Oregon | 5,410 | $23.51 | $22.09 | $48,900 | $31.03 | $310 |
| Pennsylvania | 5,980 | $25.06 | $22.89 | $52,120 | $33.08 | $331 |
| Rhode Island | 1,160 | $20.00 | $17.90 | $41,590 | $26.40 | $264 |
| South Carolina | 2,080 | $19.64 | $17.31 | $40,840 | $25.92 | $259 |
| South Dakota | 670 | $23.15 | $19.92 | $48,160 | $30.56 | $306 |
| Tennessee | 3,040 | $20.78 | $17.96 | $43,230 | $27.43 | $274 |
| Texas | 18,330 | $21.86 | $18.78 | $45,460 | $28.86 | $289 |
| Utah | 3,510 | $22.14 | $18.32 | $46,050 | $29.22 | $292 |
| Vermont | 550 | $25.54 | $23.42 | $53,120 | $33.71 | $337 |
| Virginia | 5,930 | $22.82 | $18.89 | $47,470 | $30.12 | $301 |
| Washington | 9,510 | $28.68 | $23.53 | $59,650 | $37.86 | $379 |
| West Virginia | 720 | $21.26 | $15.75 | $44,230 | $28.06 | $281 |
| Wisconsin | 3,350 | $24.08 | $22.42 | $50,090 | $31.79 | $318 |
| Wyoming | 480 | $22.70 | $18.45 | $47,220 | $29.96 | $300 |
Median means half of employed painters in the state earn more and half earn less. The 25th percentile is the wage a quarter of painters earn less than, which is the closer guide to a starting rate for someone with some experience. Annual figures are the hourly median multiplied by 2,080 hours, which is how the BLS reports them.
The highest and lowest paying states for painters
The five states with the highest median hourly wage for painters:
- Hawaii: $32.80 an hour, $68,220 a year
- Illinois: $29.45 an hour, $61,260 a year
- Alaska: $29.32 an hour, $60,980 a year
- Washington: $28.68 an hour, $59,650 a year
- New York: $28.64 an hour, $59,570 a year
The five with the lowest:
- Arkansas: $19.28 an hour, $40,090 a year
- South Carolina: $19.64 an hour, $40,840 a year
- Rhode Island: $20.00 an hour, $41,590 a year
- Tennessee: $20.78 an hour, $43,230 a year
- Alabama: $21.12 an hour, $43,930 a year
The gap between the top and bottom state is $13.52 an hour, or $28,122 a year for one full time painter. A price that covers labor comfortably in one state can lose money in another for that reason alone. The states employing the most painters are California (38,430), Florida (22,450), Texas (18,330).
The state figure is a starting point. The rate painters near you will actually accept is the real number, and the section below covers why the two can differ.
What to pay a new painter, using the percentiles
The median is the middle of the whole workforce, including painters with decades on the tools. Pricing a helper or a first year painter at the state median overpays them, and pricing an experienced lead at the 25th percentile loses them. The percentile columns give you the spread to place each role in.
A rough way to read it: the 10th percentile, in the download files, is close to the floor of what the local market pays anyone; the 25th percentile is a reasonable starting point for a painter who can work unsupervised; the median is a solid, experienced painter; and crew leads and specialists sit above it. How to rank the roles on a crew and set each rate is covered in how much to pay painters, and day rate arithmetic is in painting crew day rate.
From the wage to what an hour of painting costs you
The wage is not what a painter costs. Payroll taxes, workers compensation, insurance and paid time off all sit on top of it, and a price built on the raw wage quietly loses money on every hour. That extra is called labor burden.
The loaded hourly cost column adds the default burden the PaintPricing calculators use, 32 percent of wage, made up of 9 percent payroll taxes, 12 percent workers compensation, 4 percent liability insurance, 4 percent paid time off and 3 percent vehicle and phone. Your own figure depends on your state, your workers compensation classification and what you provide, and it can run well above or below that. Working out the real number is the subject of painting labor burden, and the labor burden calculator does the arithmetic. Workers compensation is usually the largest single piece, covered in painters workers compensation.
At the national median, $23.75 an hour becomes $31.35 once the default burden is added.
What a state wage means for a wall
The last column turns the loaded hourly cost into the labor cost of one common piece of work: rolling 1,000 square feet of wall with two coats. It uses the production rate the PaintPricing calculators start from, 200 square feet per hour per coat, so two coats on 1,000 square feet take about 10 crew hours. At the national median that is $314 of labor.
That number is labor cost only, on open wall. It leaves out cutting in around trim and ceilings, preparation, setup and cleanup, which on a real room can take as long as the rolling. Real production varies widely with the surface, the access and the painter, which is why measured rates matter more than defaults; see painting production rates.
It is also not a price. A price adds materials, overhead and profit on top of labor. The calculators recover overhead at a default of 18 percent of revenue, and profit comes on top of that. How those layers stack into a selling price is in how to price painting jobs per square foot, and what it takes to cover your fixed costs at all is in painting business break even.
Why the rate near you can differ from the state figure
A state median blends the whole state. Several things move the rate in any one place.
- City and country. Metro areas usually pay more than rural parts of the same state, sometimes by a wide margin.
- Union work. Union scale for painters is set by local agreements and can sit above the state median.
- Public work. Government funded jobs can require prevailing wage rates, which are set separately for each area and classification; see prevailing wage painting jobs.
- Specialty. Industrial coatings, spray finishing and high access work tend to pay above general residential repaints.
- Who is counted. The survey covers employees on payroll. Self employed painters and business owners are not in these figures, so they say nothing direct about what an owner operator takes home; that is covered in painting business owner salary.
Method and source
All wage and employment figures are from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 estimates, for occupation 47-2141 Painters, Construction and Maintenance, all industries, by state. They were pulled from the BLS public data API on 18 October 2026, and checked against the published national median of $49,400 on the Occupational Outlook Handbook page; the hourly and annual figures reconcile for every state. The full set of BLS wage tables is on the OEWS tables page.
The loaded hourly cost and wall labor columns are PaintPricing estimates, not BLS data. They apply the calculator defaults described above, a 32 percent burden and 200 square feet per hour per coat, and the Excel download recalculates both if you enter your own. You are welcome to cite or reuse the table with a link to this page.
Frequently asked questions
How much do painters make an hour?
The national median for painters was $23.75 an hour in May 2025, or $49,400 a year, according to the BLS. A quarter of painters earned less than $21.46 an hour.
Which state pays painters the most?
Hawaii, with a median of $32.80 an hour, followed by Illinois at $29.45 and Alaska at $29.32.
Which state pays painters the least?
Arkansas, with a median of $19.28 an hour, followed by South Carolina at $19.64.
Do these figures include self employed painters?
No. The BLS survey behind them counts painters employed on a payroll. Owner operators and self employed painters are not included.
Is this what a painting contractor charges per hour?
No. A contractor rate has to cover the wage, labor burden, overhead, materials and profit, so the hourly rate a customer pays is well above the wage a painter receives. The loaded hourly cost column shows the first step from wage toward a charge out rate.
How do I use this table to set my own prices?
Start from the local rate you actually pay, add your real burden rather than the default, and use your own measured production rates. The Excel download lets you change the burden and production figures and recalculates every state.
How often do these numbers change?
The BLS publishes new OEWS estimates once a year. The figures here are the May 2025 estimates; the date is shown in the method section above.
