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Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers: Career Overview

Paint, coat, or decorate articles, such as furniture, glass, plateware, pottery, jewelry, toys, books, or leather.

What Do Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers Perform?

The core tasks performed by painting, coating, and decorating workers span:

• Apply coatings, such as paint, ink, or lacquer, to protect or decorate workpiece surfaces, using spray guns, pens, or brushes.
• Examine finished surfaces of workpieces to verify conformance to specifications and retouch any defective areas.
• Clean and maintain tools and equipment, using solvents, brushes, and rags.
• Read job orders and inspect workpieces to determine work procedures and materials required.

Key Skills and Knowledge

Effective painting, coating, and decorating workers draw on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Key Skills

These are the skills most important for this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Related Job Titles

People in this occupation may also be known by titles such as:

• Air Brush Decorator
• Air Brush Operator
• Airbrush Painter
• Art Gilder
• Auto Body Painter (Automotive Body Painter)
• Babbitter
• Bake Off Decorator
• Bakery Decorator

Employment and Demand

The U.S. employs around 334,527 painting, coating, and decorating workers working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +12.0% over the projection horizon.

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers Pay

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$67,235
Hourly median	$32.32
10th percentile	$38,781
25th percentile	$53,008
75th percentile	$81,461
90th percentile	$95,688

Compensation varies based on experience, location, and industry.

Pay by State

State	Annual median salary
New York	$68,140
Washington	$61,270
Massachusetts	$52,320
Illinois	$51,270
New Jersey	$50,700
Georgia	$48,940
Kentucky	$47,630
Virginia	$46,190
Maryland	$45,910
New Hampshire	$45,410
Iowa	$45,390
Nebraska	$45,350
Kansas	$45,160
Missouri	$45,120
North Carolina	$45,080
Indiana	$44,730
California	$44,420
Ohio	$44,380
Colorado	$44,090
South Carolina	$43,920
Alabama	$42,620
Utah	$42,020
Pennsylvania	$41,600
Wisconsin	$39,950
Minnesota	$38,650
Arkansas	$38,560
Oklahoma	$38,300
Michigan	$37,550
Louisiana	$37,140
South Dakota	$36,810
Connecticut	$36,200
Arizona	$35,790
Florida	$35,710
Mississippi	$35,710
Tennessee	$35,620
Texas	$28,570

Pay by U.S. Region

Pay for painting, coating, and decorating workers vary by region. These regions lead on median pay:

Region	Median annual wage	Share of U.S. jobs	Location quotient
Middle Atlantic	$55,252	14.0%	0.96
New England	$48,412	4.0%	1.19
Far Western US	$46,055	12.6%	0.90
Plains States	$43,632	8.4%	1.32
Rocky Mountains	$42,940	3.3%	1.21
Great Lakes	$42,510	12.1%	1.36
Southeast	$39,548	30.6%	1.48
Southwest	$29,447	14.9%	1.45

Top Metro Areas

Metro area	State	Median annual wage	Employment
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	NY	$78,620	440
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	WA	$61,270	70
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	IL	$56,120	60
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	DC	$54,500	70
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	GA	$52,860	100
Omaha, NE-IA	NE	$52,170	30
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	CA	$50,620	80
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	CA	$50,590	60

Which Industries Hire Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

Most painting, coating, and decorating workers work in these industries:

Industry	Employment	Median annual wage
Manufacturing	5,740	$39,440
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	750	$45,380
Retail Trade	370	$47,050
Other Services (except Public Administration)	330	$44,930
Wholesale Trade	270	$37,140
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	240	$36,930
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	80	$34,250
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	30	$34,490

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers work in the following industries:

Software Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers Use

• Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Illustrator (hot technology)
• Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Photoshop (hot technology)
• Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)

What the Workplace Is Like

Daily working conditions for painting, coating, and decorating workers reflects the following characteristics:

• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
• Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls
• Exposed to Contaminants
• Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team
• Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals

How to Become Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

Most painting, coating, and decorating workers positions require less than a high school diploma as the typical entry-level education. This occupation sits in Some Preparation Needed (Job Zone 2), reflecting the level of preparation typically expected.

Related Careers

Similar Occupations

• Painters, Construction and Maintenance (Primary-Short)
• Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
• Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
• Foundry Mold and Coremakers (Primary-Long)
• Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (Supplemental)
• Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners (Supplemental)
• Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers (Primary-Long)
• Sewing Machine Operators (Supplemental)

References

Data on this page comes from the following authoritative sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
• BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
• O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 51-9123.00 (Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers).