The average painter in the United States earns $55,420 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $49,400. That works out at about $26.64 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: Hawaii averages $71,310 and South Carolina $42,050. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a painter actually does for that money
Painters split between new construction, where the work is scheduled and the rate is thin, and repaint, where the customer is a homeowner and the margin is better. This is one of the easiest trades to enter and one of the harder ones to earn well in, which is why the percentile spread is worth reading closely.
What painters 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% | $37,440 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $44,640 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $49,400 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $61,660 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $78,810 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Painting salary by state
Hawaii pays the most at $71,310 a year, and South Carolina the least at $42,050. 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 | $71,310 | $68,220 | $34.28 | 1,900 |
| 2 | Illinois | $69,630 | $61,260 | $33.48 | 6,820 |
| 3 | New York | $68,070 | $59,570 | $32.72 | 13,040 |
| 4 | Alaska | $64,220 | $60,980 | $30.87 | 440 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | $64,080 | $57,510 | $30.81 | 4,430 |
| 6 | Connecticut | $63,500 | $58,480 | $30.53 | 2,230 |
| 7 | California | $62,460 | $59,020 | $30.03 | 38,430 |
| 8 | District of Columbia | $62,240 | $59,520 | $29.92 | 500 |
| 9 | New Jersey | $61,000 | $59,250 | $29.33 | 4,110 |
| 10 | Washington | $60,910 | $59,650 | $29.28 | 9,510 |
| 11 | Maine | $60,230 | $59,270 | $28.96 | 2,120 |
| 12 | Nevada | $59,610 | $56,390 | $28.66 | 4,120 |
| 13 | Missouri | $59,450 | $57,510 | $28.58 | 3,980 |
| 14 | Minnesota | $58,170 | $57,270 | $27.97 | 3,810 |
| 15 | Delaware | $56,890 | $58,530 | $27.35 | 480 |
| 16 | Colorado | $56,370 | $52,970 | $27.10 | 3,480 |
| 17 | North Dakota | $55,960 | $54,870 | $26.90 | 420 |
| 18 | Michigan | $55,920 | $50,650 | $26.88 | 4,920 |
| 19 | Maryland | $55,650 | $49,120 | $26.76 | 3,750 |
| 20 | Vermont | $54,890 | $53,120 | $26.39 | 550 |
| 21 | Montana | $54,700 | $58,290 | $26.30 | 920 |
| 22 | Ohio | $54,510 | $49,450 | $26.21 | 5,600 |
| 23 | Pennsylvania | $54,230 | $52,120 | $26.07 | 5,980 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | $54,170 | $50,090 | $26.05 | 3,350 |
| 25 | Oregon | $53,570 | $48,900 | $25.76 | 5,410 |
| 26 | Indiana | $53,000 | $50,260 | $25.48 | 3,510 |
| 27 | New Hampshire | $52,730 | $49,670 | $25.35 | 910 |
| 28 | Arizona | $52,480 | $48,250 | $25.23 | 5,210 |
| 29 | Iowa | $52,070 | $49,710 | $25.04 | 1,770 |
| 30 | Kentucky | $51,420 | $48,110 | $24.72 | 1,390 |
| 31 | Georgia | $50,550 | $48,340 | $24.30 | 2,760 |
| 32 | New Mexico | $49,380 | $46,240 | $23.74 | 1,010 |
| 33 | Virginia | $49,110 | $47,470 | $23.61 | 5,930 |
| 34 | Florida | $48,440 | $47,530 | $23.29 | 22,450 |
| 35 | Rhode Island | $48,150 | $41,590 | $23.15 | 1,160 |
| 36 | South Dakota | $47,710 | $48,160 | $22.94 | 670 |
| 37 | Utah | $47,690 | $46,050 | $22.93 | 3,510 |
| 38 | Wyoming | $47,620 | $47,220 | $22.89 | 480 |
| 39 | Nebraska | $46,590 | $47,280 | $22.40 | 1,590 |
| 40 | Mississippi | $46,450 | $44,800 | $22.33 | 1,060 |
| 41 | Louisiana | $46,030 | $46,410 | $22.13 | 4,090 |
| 42 | Texas | $46,020 | $45,460 | $22.13 | 18,330 |
| 43 | Idaho | $45,490 | $44,880 | $21.87 | 2,040 |
| 44 | Kansas | $45,450 | $45,510 | $21.85 | 1,570 |
| 45 | Oklahoma | $45,450 | $44,900 | $21.85 | 1,880 |
| 46 | North Carolina | $44,900 | $44,110 | $21.59 | 5,220 |
| 47 | West Virginia | $44,770 | $44,230 | $21.53 | 720 |
| 48 | Alabama | $44,720 | $43,930 | $21.50 | 1,570 |
| 49 | Tennessee | $44,590 | $43,230 | $21.44 | 3,040 |
| 50 | Arkansas | $42,180 | $40,090 | $20.28 | 890 |
| 51 | South Carolina | $42,050 | $40,840 | $20.22 | 2,080 |
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 painters the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kahului-Wailuku, HI | $76,180 | $36.62 |
| 2 | Champaign-Urbana, IL | $73,490 | $35.33 |
| 3 | Rockford, IL | $72,850 | $35.02 |
| 4 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $70,720 | $34.00 |
| 5 | Urban Honolulu, HI | $70,560 | $33.92 |
| 6 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $70,530 | $33.91 |
| 7 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $69,930 | $33.62 |
| 8 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $69,260 | $33.30 |
| 9 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $68,050 | $32.72 |
| 10 | Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $68,030 | $32.71 |
What moves the number
- A handful of states license painting contractors, and EPA Lead-Safe certification is required for anyone disturbing paint in a pre-1978 home. That certification is cheap and it opens up the entire older housing stock.
- Exterior work is seasonal almost everywhere, so painters who build an interior and commercial book carry earnings through the winter rather than dropping off a cliff.
- Cabinet refinishing, industrial coatings and high-end faux and specialty finishes all price well above standard repaint work.
- The bottom ten percent of painters earn under $37,440 and the top ten percent clear $78,810. 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 painters 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 painter wage and an owner income opens up.
Painting salary FAQs
- How much do painters make a year?
- The median painter in the United States earns $49,400 a year and the average is $55,420, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do painters make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $26.64. 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 painters the most?
- Hawaii pays the most at an average of $71,310 a year, followed by Illinois at $69,630 and New York at $68,070. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay painters the most?
- Kahului-Wailuku, HI tops the list at an average of $76,180 a year, with Champaign-Urbana, IL at $73,490. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can painters earn six figures?
- As an employee it is uncommon: the top ten percent earn $78,810. Owners are a different question, because they are paid on the job rather than on the hour, and owner income is not in these figures.
- Do these figures include self-employed painters?
- 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 painting salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Painters, Construction and Maintenance" (SOC 47-2141). 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.
