How to become a painter in Arizona

The path in Arizona, step by step

Arizona licenses painting work at the state level through the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. These are the steps it lays out, in order.

1. Pick the R-34, C-34 or CR-34 class for the work you do.
2. Apply to the Registrar of Contractors.
3. Remember the $1,000 line: above it, or whenever a permit is needed, you need the license.

The full license guide, with every fee and form: painting contractor license in Arizona.

Finding an apprenticeship in Arizona

Arizona runs Registered Apprenticeship through its own State Apprenticeship Agency, recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor to register and oversee programs there. Its staff are state employees, and it may use the federal paperwork or forms of its own. Apprenticeship.gov lists the Arizona State Apprenticeship Agency as the contact.

Either way, a registered program means paid work with a mentor, raises as you progress, classroom instruction and a credential recognized in every state. Search open spots in the Apprenticeship Job Finder.

Across the country. 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.

License levels and exams in Arizona

The license to aim for: R-34 Painting and Wall Covering (residential), C-34 (commercial) or CR-34 (both).

What painters earn in Arizona

The median painter in Arizona earned $23.20 an hour in May 2025, 30th of 51 states, with 5,210 on payrolls. The national median was $23.75.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of painters in Arizona earned under $21.81 an hour and a tenth under $19.32. At the top, a quarter earned over $28.16 and a tenth over $30.59.

Every state, the neighbors and what a business should charge: painter salary in Arizona.

Jobs ahead in Arizona

Arizona's labor market office projects jobs for painters growing from 9,030 in 2022 to 10,070 in 2032, a change of 11.5%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 840 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 11.5% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the 1.5% projected nationally, ranking 12th of the 50 states in the file.

These are the state's own long-term projections, published together on Projections Central for the occupation group painters, construction and maintenance.

Starting your own painter business in Arizona

To contract on your own in Arizona, the license is the R-34 Painting and Wall Covering (residential), C-34 (commercial) or CR-34 (both).

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Arizona median of $23.20 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $111.33 per billable hour. Try your own in the labor rate calculator.

The full checklist is in 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.