What Does it Take to Be a Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer?
Occupation Description Apply plasterboard or other wallboard to ceilings or interior walls of buildings. Apply or mount acoustical tiles or blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing materials to ceilings and walls of buildings to reduce or reflect sound. Materials may be of decorative quality. Includes lathers who fasten wooden, metal, or rockboard lath to walls, ceilings or partitions of buildings to provide support base for plaster, fire-proofing, or acoustical material.
List of Drywall & Ceiling Tile Installer Job Duties
- Wash concrete surfaces before mounting tile to increase adhesive qualities of surfaces, using washing soda and zinc sulfate solution.
- Cut metal or wood framing and trim to size, using cutting tools.
- Remove existing plaster, drywall, or paneling, using crowbars and hammers.
- Hang dry lines to wall moldings to guide positioning of main runners.
- Measure and mark surfaces to lay out work, according to blueprints or drawings, using tape measures, straightedges or squares, and marking devices.
- Scribe and cut edges of tile to fit walls where wall molding is not specified.
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Things a Drywall & Ceiling Tile Installer Should Know How to Do
When polled, Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers say the following skills are most frequently used in their jobs:
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Time Management: Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
Related Job Titles for this Occupation:
- Wood Lather
- Metal Furrer
- Drywall Taper
- Metal Lather
- Drywall Metal Stud Worker
What Kind of Drywall & Ceiling Tile Installer Job Opportunities Are There?
There were about 119,500 jobs for Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer in 2016 (in the United States). There is little to no growth in job opportunities for Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer. The BLS estimates 10,500 yearly job openings in this field.

The states with the most job growth for Drywall & Ceiling Tile Installer are Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. Watch out if you plan on working in Kentucky, Mississippi, or Vermont. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Salary for a Drywall & Ceiling Tile Installer
Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers make between $27,490 and $83,010 a year.

Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers who work in Hawaii, Minnesota, or Washington, make the highest salaries.
How much do Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers make in each U.S. state?
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $33,680 |
Alaska | $51,560 |
Arizona | $41,830 |
Arkansas | $39,780 |
California | $61,820 |
Colorado | $46,620 |
Connecticut | $54,830 |
Delaware | $42,890 |
District of Columbia | $48,070 |
Florida | $35,240 |
Georgia | $37,570 |
Hawaii | $79,500 |
Idaho | $35,800 |
Illinois | $56,010 |
Indiana | $44,300 |
Iowa | $35,110 |
Kansas | $42,770 |
Kentucky | $41,720 |
Louisiana | $35,520 |
Maine | $43,680 |
Maryland | $45,280 |
Massachusetts | $49,980 |
Michigan | $42,300 |
Minnesota | $58,530 |
Mississippi | $34,960 |
Missouri | $44,430 |
Montana | $41,840 |
Nebraska | $39,240 |
Nevada | $37,930 |
New Hampshire | $47,380 |
New Jersey | $54,200 |
New Mexico | $39,330 |
New York | $49,600 |
North Carolina | $37,060 |
North Dakota | $49,290 |
Ohio | $40,810 |
Oklahoma | $44,130 |
Oregon | $59,230 |
Pennsylvania | $47,690 |
Rhode Island | $40,720 |
South Carolina | $36,940 |
South Dakota | $33,600 |
Tennessee | $40,080 |
Texas | $37,870 |
Utah | $39,530 |
Vermont | $44,920 |
Virginia | $36,190 |
Washington | $59,990 |
West Virginia | $36,700 |
Wisconsin | $46,450 |
Wyoming | $42,030 |
Tools & Technologies Used by Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers may use on a daily basis:
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Windows
- Turtle Creek Software Goldenseal
- Palm OS
- On Center Quick Bid
- Construction Software Center EasyEst
- Job costing software
- Wilhelm Publishing Threshold
- DevWave Estimate Works
How to Become a Drywall & Ceiling Tile Installer
Learn what Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer education requirements there are.

What work experience do I need to become a Drywall & Ceiling Tile Installer?

Where Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers Work

The table below shows the approximate number of Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers employed by various industries.

Other Jobs You May be Interested In
Those who work as a Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer sometimes switch careers to one of these choices:
References:
Image Credit: Margo Wright via Public domain
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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