---

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in Illinois

Thinking about a career as a Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in Illinois? 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 Illinois?

For painting, coating, and decorating workers working in Illinois, the typical annual salary is $51,270 per year (or about $24.65/hour).Earnings range from $38,860 at the 10th percentile to $90,830 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$38,860	$18.68
25th percentile	$47,430	$22.80
Median (50th)	$51,270	$24.65
75th percentile	$76,860	$36.95
90th percentile	$90,830	$43.67

Location quotient — how concentrated this career is in Illinois relative to the national average — is 0.16, indicating fewer painting, coating, and decorating workers per worker than the national average.

National Wage Comparison

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

Employment Outlook

There are roughly 334,527 painting, coating, and decorating workers nationwide. In Illinois alone, approximately 50 people work in this role. That trails the typical state, which employs around 160 painting, coating, and decorating workers.

Top Illinois Metros for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

The metro areas below employ the most painting, coating, and decorating workers in Illinois.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	60	$56,120

Top States for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers Employment

View the states that employ the most 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

These states pay the most 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

Top abilities 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

Careers similar to 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