What You Need to Know About Floor Layer
Career Description Apply blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing, sound-deadening, or decorative coverings to floors.
Life As a Floor Layer: What Do They Do?
- Cut flooring material to fit around obstructions.
- Inspect surface to be covered to ensure that it is firm and dry.
- Apply adhesive cement to floor or wall material to join and adhere foundation material.
- Remove excess cement to clean finished surface.
- Trim excess covering materials, tack edges, and join sections of covering material to form tight joint.
- Measure and mark guidelines on surfaces or foundations, using chalk lines and dividers.
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Skills Needed to be a Floor Layer
Below is a list of the skills most Floor Layers say are important on the job.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Types of Floor Layer Jobs
- Plastic Tile Setter
- Tiler
- Floor Covering Contractor
- Asphalt Tile Floor Layer
- Composition Floor Setter
What Kind of Floor Layer Job Opportunities Are There?
In the United States, there were 16,300 jobs for Floor Layer in 2016. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 9.8% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 1,600 new jobs for Floor Layer by 2026. The BLS estimates 1,600 yearly job openings in this field.

The states with the most job growth for Floor Layer are Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. Watch out if you plan on working in Vermont, New Hampshire, or Nebraska. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Do Floor Layers Make A Lot Of Money?
The typical yearly salary for Floor Layers is somewhere between $25,720 and $74,990.

Floor Layers who work in New Jersey, Wisconsin, or Massachusetts, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Floor Layers in different U.S. states.
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $35,370 |
Arizona | $46,660 |
California | $51,360 |
Colorado | $38,950 |
Connecticut | $43,060 |
Florida | $34,950 |
Georgia | $48,530 |
Hawaii | $53,620 |
Idaho | $36,650 |
Illinois | $46,590 |
Indiana | $40,660 |
Iowa | $51,390 |
Kansas | $54,450 |
Kentucky | $37,610 |
Louisiana | $49,290 |
Maine | $45,210 |
Maryland | $45,290 |
Massachusetts | $60,650 |
Michigan | $42,520 |
Missouri | $48,110 |
Nebraska | $36,370 |
Nevada | $48,320 |
New Hampshire | $44,820 |
New Jersey | $90,330 |
New Mexico | $34,740 |
New York | $51,220 |
North Carolina | $39,640 |
North Dakota | $40,870 |
Ohio | $43,810 |
Oklahoma | $39,470 |
Oregon | $39,170 |
Pennsylvania | $46,510 |
South Carolina | $53,530 |
South Dakota | $34,640 |
Tennessee | $32,730 |
Texas | $40,700 |
Utah | $36,820 |
Vermont | $46,000 |
Washington | $53,540 |
Wisconsin | $60,150 |
What Tools do Floor Layers Use?
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Floor Layers:
- Microsoft Office
- Web browser software
- Measure Square FloorEstimate Pro
- Aya Associates Comp-U-Floor
- Flooring Technologies Qfloors
- Radio frequency identification RFID software
- Saltire Software FloorRight
- Focus Floor Covering Software
- Textile Management Systems RollMaster
How to Become a Floor Layer
Education needed to be a Floor Layer:

How Long Does it Take to Become a Floor Layer?

Where Floor Layers Are Employed

The table below shows some of the most common industries where those employed in this career field work.

Similar Careers
Those interested in being a Floor Layer may also be interested in:
Career changers with experience as a Floor Layer sometimes find work in one of the following fields:
References:
Image Credit: Margo Wright via Public domain
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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