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Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in California

Considering working as a Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in California? Below are the key facts. Paint, coat, or decorate articles, such as furniture, glass, plateware, pottery, jewelry, toys, books, or leather. Excludes “Artists and Related Workers" (27-1010), “Designers” (27-1020), “Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators” (51-9151), and “Etchers and Engravers” (51-9194).

What do Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers Make in California?

For a painting, coating, and decorating workers working in California, the median annual wage is $44,420 per year (or roughly $21.36/hour).Earnings range from $35,830 at the 10th percentile to $79,560 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$35,830	$17.23
25th percentile	$37,900	$18.22
Median (50th)	$44,420	$21.36
75th percentile	$55,210	$26.54
90th percentile	$79,560	$38.25

Location quotient — how concentrated this career is in California relative to the national average — is 0.94.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, painting, coating, and decorating workers earn a median of $67,235 per year ($32.32/hour), below the California median.

Employment Outlook

Nationally, total employment in this occupation is 334,527 painting, coating, and decorating workers in the U.S.. In California alone, around 930 people work in this role. That puts the state above the typical state, which employs around 160 painting, coating, and decorating workers.

Top California Metros for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

The largest metro-area employers of painting, coating, and decorating workers in California.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	430	$46,510
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	100	$40,640
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	80	$50,620
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	60	$50,590
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	50	$38,230

Top States for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers Employment

These states have the highest employment of painting, coating, and decorating workers work.

State	Number Employed
Texas	1,110
California	930
Florida	920
New York	510
Indiana	390
Tennessee	380
Pennsylvania	360
Michigan	270
Virginia	260
Massachusetts	250
New Jersey	200
North Carolina	200
Missouri	200
Ohio	170
Iowa	170
Mississippi	160
South Carolina	160
Utah	150
Georgia	150
Minnesota	130

Highest-Paying States for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

The highest-paying states for painting, coating, and decorating workers.

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

Skills

Key painting, coating, and decorating workers skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Core knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Abilities

The abilities that matter most for painting, coating, and decorating workers, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Day-to-day, painting, coating, and decorating workers typically:

• 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.
• Select and mix ingredients to prepare coating substances according to specifications, using paddles or mechanical mixers.
• Place coated workpieces in ovens or dryers for specified times to dry or harden finishes.
• Clean surfaces of workpieces in preparation for coating, using cleaning fluids, solvents, brushes, scrapers, steam, sandpaper, or cloth.
• Conceal blemishes in workpieces, such as nicks and dents, using fillers such as putty.
• Rinse, drain, or wipe coated workpieces to remove excess coating material or to facilitate setting of finish coats on workpieces.

Work Activities

• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Getting Information
• Processing Information
• Training and Teaching Others
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Monitoring and Controlling Resources
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information

Tools & Technology

Common tools and software used in this occupation include: Hot technologies: Adobe Illustrator

Related Careers

Other careers like painting, coating, and decorating workers include:

• Painters, Construction and Maintenance
• Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic
• Foundry Mold and Coremakers
• Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

Also Known As

Air Brush Decorator, Air Brush Operator, Airbrush Painter, Art Gilder, Auto Body Painter (Automotive Body Painter), Babbitter, Bake Off Decorator, Bakery Decorator, Balloon Dipper, Banner Painter, Barrel Coater, Barrel Liner, Battery Container Finishing Hand, Bisque Ware Dipper, Blocker.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
• O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
• BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
• O*NET-SOC code: 51-9123.00