How to become a painter

How to become a painter, step by step

1. Get hired by a painting contractor. No formal education is required.
2. Learn surface prep, applying coatings, hanging wall covering and matching colors on the job. Some jobs need extra safety training for scaffolding and harnesses.
3. If you want structure, look for a painting apprenticeship. They run 3 or 4 years and usually ask for a high school diploma and age 18.
4. Get EPA lead-safe certification before you work in homes built before 1978.
5. If you want to contract on your own, check whether your state licenses painting or covers it under a contractor license.

Apprenticeship and on-the-job training

Painting apprenticeships are less common, but where they exist they last 3 or 4 years and are open to people with a high school diploma or equivalent who are at least 18.

Each year has a set number of hours of classroom training and paid on-the-job training before you become a journey worker.

Find registered openings near you in the Apprenticeship Job Finder. In each state page below, we note whether the state runs its own apprenticeship agency or works through the U.S. Department of Labor.

Trade school and other ways in

On the job. Most painters learn from the contractor that hires them, and some contractors run their own training programs.

Technical school. Some technical schools offer optional painting certificates.

Licenses and exams

There is no national painting license. A few states license painting contractors, more cover painting under a contractor or home improvement license, and some states license lead paint removal. The state rows below show the ones we have checked.

Of the 35 states we have checked against the official boards, 8 require a state painting contractor license, 19 license only part of the work, and 8 leave it to cities and counties. Every state, with fees and forms: painting contractor licenses by state.

Certifications

EPA lead-safe firm certification. Anyone paid to do work that disturbs paint in homes or child-occupied facilities built before 1978 must be certified under the EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. That covers every firm, sole proprietors included, so it matters the day you go out on your own.

Lead abatement. EPA certifies lead paint abatement, and some states require a license for lead paint removal.

What painters earn

Painters earned a median $23.75 an hour in May 2025. The lowest-paid tenth earned under $18.00 and the top tenth over $37.89.

Among the states with a page below, the highest medians are in Hawaii ($32.80), Alaska ($29.32) and California ($28.38).

BLS counts 326,900 jobs for construction and maintenance painters and projects 3 percent growth from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,900 openings a year.

Pay in every state: painter salary by state.

From the truck to your own shop

Experienced painters can become supervisors, superintendents or managers, or work as estimators.

Painters also start their own businesses, and union painters can move into roles such as training instructor or business manager.

Before you go out on your own, price your hours. At the national median of $23.75, the labor rate calculator gives $112.30 per billable hour on its starting numbers.

The full checklist: how to start a painting business. The free Koira Office plan gives you a website on a Koira address, estimates customers sign with a deposit, invoices with card payments and your day's jobs in one place, with no per-person fee. See the plans.