How to become a painter in California

The path in California, step by step

California licenses painting work at the state level through the California Contractors State License Board. These are the steps it lays out, in order.

1. Apply to the CSLB for the C-33 Painting and Decorating classification.

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

Finding an apprenticeship in California

California appears on both of the Labor Department's lists: it has a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency, and the federal Office of Apprenticeship works there too. Apprenticeship.gov lists the California Apprenticeship Office as a 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 California

The license to aim for: C-33 Painting and Decorating Contractor.

What painters earn in California

The median painter in California earned $28.38 an hour in May 2025, 9th of 51 states, with 38,430 on payrolls. The national median was $23.75.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of painters in California earned under $22.85 an hour and a tenth under $20.26. At the top, a quarter earned over $35.11 and a tenth over $43.75.

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

Jobs ahead in California

California's labor market office projects jobs for painters growing from 59,300 in 2022 to 66,700 in 2032, a change of 12.5%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 5,570 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 12.5% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the 1.5% projected nationally, ranking 11th 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 California

To contract on your own in California, the license is the C-33 Painting and Decorating Contractor.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the California median of $28.38 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $120.43 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.