The average drywall installer in the United States earns $63,600 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $58,930. That works out at about $30.58 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: Hawaii averages $96,460 and Mississippi $39,240. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a drywall installer actually does for that money
Hangers and finishers are counted together here even though they are separate skills with separate rates. Most work for specialty subcontractors on new construction, and a large share are paid by the board or the square foot rather than by the hour, so the productive ones earn well above the published rate.
What drywall installers earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $38,460 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $47,440 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $58,930 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $74,230 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $102,010 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Drywall salary by state
Hawaii pays the most at $96,460 a year, and Mississippi the least at $39,240. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $96,460 | $104,830 | $46.38 | 800 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $81,280 | $75,080 | $39.08 | 1,340 |
| 3 | Washington | $80,450 | $73,130 | $38.68 | 2,670 |
| 4 | Oregon | $75,770 | $73,530 | $36.43 | 1,680 |
| 5 | California | $74,680 | $65,880 | $35.91 | 27,280 |
| 6 | Illinois | $72,690 | $63,180 | $34.95 | 740 |
| 7 | New York | $68,930 | $61,280 | $33.14 | 2,840 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $68,220 | $69,500 | $32.80 | 590 |
| 9 | Alaska | $68,130 | $73,690 | $32.75 | 100 |
| 10 | Missouri | $67,200 | $62,580 | $32.31 | 550 |
| 11 | New Hampshire | $67,190 | $61,960 | $32.31 | 370 |
| 12 | Minnesota | $65,600 | $61,290 | $31.54 | 1,050 |
| 13 | Pennsylvania | $61,980 | $61,160 | $29.80 | 1,690 |
| 14 | Colorado | $61,940 | $61,780 | $29.78 | 1,560 |
| 15 | Ohio | $61,060 | $61,420 | $29.36 | 1,680 |
| 16 | Connecticut | $61,000 | $60,480 | $29.33 | 300 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | $60,020 | $59,970 | $28.86 | 1,140 |
| 18 | Montana | $59,910 | $60,140 | $28.81 | 170 |
| 19 | Nevada | $59,440 | $52,280 | $28.58 | 2,980 |
| 20 | Maine | $59,170 | $60,080 | $28.45 | 150 |
| 21 | Michigan | $58,520 | $58,440 | $28.14 | 1,050 |
| 22 | Rhode Island | $57,360 | $47,110 | $27.58 | 440 |
| 23 | Georgia | $57,250 | $58,260 | $27.53 | 690 |
| 24 | New Mexico | $57,140 | $53,900 | $27.47 | 580 |
| 25 | Vermont | $57,080 | $59,820 | $27.44 | 90 |
| 26 | Virginia | $55,310 | $55,840 | $26.59 | 2,480 |
| 27 | Maryland | $55,130 | $54,680 | $26.50 | 1,470 |
| 28 | Indiana | $54,380 | $49,810 | $26.15 | 680 |
| 29 | Iowa | $53,230 | $51,030 | $25.59 | 290 |
| 30 | Utah | $52,720 | $51,020 | $25.35 | 2,610 |
| 31 | Arizona | $52,560 | $50,290 | $25.27 | 2,590 |
| 32 | Nebraska | $51,260 | $48,620 | $24.64 | 770 |
| 33 | Delaware | $50,860 | $50,170 | $24.45 | 350 |
| 34 | South Dakota | $50,750 | $48,850 | $24.40 | 360 |
| 35 | Tennessee | $49,710 | $47,510 | $23.90 | 1,150 |
| 36 | Texas | $49,040 | $47,590 | $23.58 | 5,760 |
| 37 | Florida | $48,900 | $48,970 | $23.51 | 6,000 |
| 38 | South Carolina | $48,410 | $45,340 | $23.28 | 340 |
| 39 | Louisiana | $48,340 | $47,420 | $23.24 | 310 |
| 40 | Idaho | $48,240 | $43,790 | $23.19 | 920 |
| 41 | Kentucky | $48,100 | $48,340 | $23.13 | 490 |
| 42 | Alabama | $47,910 | $48,000 | $23.03 | 650 |
| 43 | North Dakota | $46,870 | $45,110 | $22.53 | 130 |
| 44 | Wyoming | $46,820 | $43,990 | $22.51 | 140 |
| 45 | Oklahoma | $46,120 | $46,080 | $22.18 | 280 |
| 46 | Kansas | $45,520 | $39,890 | $21.89 | 650 |
| 47 | North Carolina | $45,060 | $45,080 | $21.66 | 1,520 |
| 48 | Arkansas | $43,410 | $44,550 | $20.87 | 240 |
| 49 | Mississippi | $39,240 | $37,310 | $18.86 | 110 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying drywall installers the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urban Honolulu, HI | $97,000 | $46.64 |
| 2 | Kahului-Wailuku, HI | $96,360 | $46.33 |
| 3 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $92,730 | $44.58 |
| 4 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $91,620 | $44.05 |
| 5 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $91,080 | $43.79 |
| 6 | Napa, CA | $85,960 | $41.33 |
| 7 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $84,760 | $40.75 |
| 8 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $82,350 | $39.59 |
| 9 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $78,640 | $37.81 |
| 10 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $77,030 | $37.03 |
What moves the number
- Rarely licensed as its own trade, so the ceiling on pay is set by output rather than credentials. Most experienced hangers and finishers work on piece rates, which is why the spread here is wider than the hourly figure suggests.
- The work is tied to new construction and to whoever is framing ahead of you. A crew that can move between jobs without a gap earns far more over a year than the daily rate implies.
- Level 5 finish, curved and coffered work, and commercial fire-rated assemblies all pay above standard residential hang and tape.
- The bottom ten percent of drywall installers earn under $38,460 and the top ten percent clear $102,010. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed drywall installers on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a drywall installer wage and an owner income opens up.
Drywall salary FAQs
- How much do drywall installers make a year?
- The median drywall installer in the United States earns $58,930 a year and the average is $63,600, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do drywall installers make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $30.58. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays drywall installers the most?
- Hawaii pays the most at an average of $96,460 a year, followed by New Jersey at $81,280 and Washington at $80,450. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay drywall installers the most?
- Urban Honolulu, HI tops the list at an average of $97,000 a year, with Kahului-Wailuku, HI at $96,360. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can drywall installers earn six figures?
- Yes. The top ten percent of drywall installers earn $102,010 or more. Getting there usually means a combination of licensing, specialization and either supervising a crew or running the business.
- Do these figures include self-employed drywall installers?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this drywall salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers" (SOC 47-2081). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
