Painting & Wall Covering

Types of Degrees Painting & Wall Covering Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many painting/painter & wall coverer graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	32
Undergraduate Certificate	20
Basic Certificate	6

What Painting & Wall Covering Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, painting/painter and wall coverer majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Painting/Painter and Wall Coverer Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in painting/painter and wall coverer should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills for Painting/Painter and Wall Coverer Majors

When studying painting/painter and wall coverer, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• 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.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Time Management - Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Painting/Painter and Wall Coverer Majors

A major in painting/painter and wall coverer will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

What Can You Do With a Painting & Wall Covering Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with painting/painter and wall coverer:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	12.6%	$65,230
Painters, Construction and Maintenance	5.7%	$38,940
Paperhangers	5.3%	$38,090

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Painting & Wall Covering?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 84% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of painting/painter and wall coverer majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	2
White	27
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

How Much Do Painting & Wall Covering Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $40,840 to $70,540 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to painting/painter and wall coverer. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Painting & Wall Covering

Some careers associated with painting/painter and wall coverer require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to painting/painter and wall coverer have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	19.9%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	48.1%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	11.7%
Some College Courses	16.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	1.6%
Doctoral Degree	2.2%

Online Painting & Wall Covering Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	7	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	4	0
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Painting & Wall Covering Worth It?

The median salary for a painting/painter and wall coverer grad is $43,050 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 8% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $63,000 after 20 years!

Trades Related to Painting & Wall Covering

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to painting/painter and wall coverer.

Major	Number of Grads
Building/Property Maintenance	1,549
Building Construction Technology	1,448
Building/Construction Site Management/Manager	1,116
Other Building/Construction Finishing, Management, & Inspection	529
Building/Home/Construction Inspection/Inspector	261
Drywall Installation/Drywaller	92
Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher	84
Insulator	61
Glazier	33
Carpet, Floor, & Tile Worker	21
Roofer	17
Metal Building Assembly/Assembler	0

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.