Painters, Construction and Maintenance Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 47-2141 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Median Annual Salary
$49,400
$23.75/hr
Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026
Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026
Next refresh: May 2027
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The national median salary for Painters, Construction and Maintenance is $49,400 per year ($23.75/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $44,637 and $61,672 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $78,811 per year. There are approximately 225,190 painters, construction and maintenance employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Paint walls, equipment, buildings, bridges, and other structural surfaces, using brushes, rollers, and spray guns. May remove old paint to prepare surface prior to painting. May mix colors or oils to obtain desired color or consistency.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+3.8%
About as fast as average
Annual openings
28K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
342K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
5% from new growth95% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
No formal educational credential
Experience
None
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Building Finishing Contractors
NAICS 238300
148K
$48,810
Residential Building Construction
NAICS 236100
16K
$52,000
Nonresidential Building Construction
NAICS 236200
7K
$49,980
Other Specialty Trade Contractors
NAICS 238900
6K
$48,530
Real Estate
NAICS 531000
6K
$48,520
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$18.00
$37,440
P25
$21.46
$44,637
P50MEDIAN
$23.75
$49,400
P75
$29.65
$61,672
P90
$37.89
$78,811
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · manufacturing sector
Stable
Openings Rate
3.5%
Quits Rate
1.4%
Manufacturing openings ticked up to 462K (+19K) in March, with the rate at 3.5%. Hires rose to 310K. The sector has stabilized after late-2025 softening.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average painters, construction and maintenance salary?
The national median salary for Painters, Construction and Maintenance is $49,400 per year ($23.75/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $44,637 and $61,672 annually.
How much do top-earning painters, construction and maintenance make?
The 90th percentile salary for Painters, Construction and Maintenance is $78,811 per year ($37.89/hr). The 75th percentile is $61,672 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for painters, construction and maintenance?
Entry-level Painters, Construction and Maintenance (10th percentile) earn approximately $37,440 per year ($18.00/hr). The 25th percentile is $44,637 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
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