SOC 51-9123.00

    Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

    Paint, coat, or decorate articles, such as furniture, glass, plateware, pottery, jewelry, toys, books, or leather.

    Median pay
    $41,600
    Growth
    +1.3%
    Slower than average
    Openings a year
    700
    Typical education
    No formal credential

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $31,470
    Median
    $41,600
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $60,820
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    7,940 people work in this occupation.

    What painting, coating, and decorating workers do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Paint, coat, or decorate articles, such as furniture, glass, plateware, pottery, jewelry, toys, books, or leather.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R) · strongest
    99 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    6 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    40 / 100
    Social (S)
    10 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    0 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    40 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code RAC. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    79
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    78
    Handling and Moving Objects
    70
    Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
    66
    Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
    64
    Getting Information
    64
    Processing Information
    63
    Training and Teaching Others
    60
    Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
    59
    Monitoring and Controlling Resources
    57
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Active Listening
    • Coordination
    • Monitoring
    • Social Perceptiveness
    • Critical Thinking
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Speaking
    • Time Management
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Service Orientation

    Knowledge

    • Production and Processing
    • English Language
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Education and Training
    • Design
    • Chemistry
    • Administration and Management
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Mathematics
    • Computers and Electronics

    Abilities

    • Near Vision
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
    • Visual Color Discrimination
    • Manual Dexterity
    • Finger Dexterity
    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Information Ordering
    • Speech Clarity

    Work styles

    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability
    • Cautiousness
    • Perseverance
    • Innovation
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Self-Control
    • Integrity
    • Self-Confidence
    • Stress Tolerance

    Also called

    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

    Your plan

    Build my pathway plan

    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

    All careers

    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.