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Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers in Washington

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

For a painting, coating, and decorating workers working in Washington, the typical annual salary is $61,270 per year (or about $29.46/hour).Annual wages span from $48,010 at the 10th percentile to $87,400 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$48,010	$23.08
25th percentile	$49,460	$23.78
Median (50th)	$61,270	$29.46
75th percentile	$75,260	$36.18
90th percentile	$87,400	$42.02

The location quotient — a measure of how concentrated this occupation is in Washington nationwide is 0.51, 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 Washington median.

Employment Outlook

Nationally, total employment in this occupation is 334,527 painting, coating, and decorating workers across the United States. In Washington alone, approximately 100 people work in this role. That’s below the typical state, which employs around 160 painting, coating, and decorating workers.

Top Washington Metros for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

These are the Washington metros with the most painting, coating, and decorating workers in Washington.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	70	$61,270

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

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

Knowledge Areas

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

Abilities

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

Daily Tasks

Common tasks include:

• 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

Technologies frequently used: Hot technologies: Adobe Illustrator

Related Careers

Related occupations 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