How to become a painter in Oregon

The path in Oregon, step by step

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

1. Have your Responsible Managing Individual complete the 16 hour training and exam.
2. Pick your endorsement type.
3. File your business name with the Oregon Secretary of State.
4. Submit the surety bond and proof of liability insurance.

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

Finding an apprenticeship in Oregon

Oregon 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 Oregon 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 Oregon

The license to aim for: CCB contractor license, with the right endorsement.

Trade exam. An exam taken through your pre-license training provider after the 16 hour training.

What painters earn in Oregon

The median painter in Oregon earned $23.51 an hour in May 2025, 28th of 51 states, with 5,410 on payrolls. The national median was $23.75.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of painters in Oregon earned under $22.09 an hour and a tenth under $18.39. At the top, a quarter earned over $29.60 and a tenth over $35.36.

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

Jobs ahead in Oregon

Oregon's labor market office projects jobs for painters growing from 8,300 in 2022 to 9,760 in 2032, a change of 17.6%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 840 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 17.6% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the 1.5% projected nationally, ranking 5th 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 Oregon

To contract on your own in Oregon, the license is the CCB contractor license, with the right endorsement.

Insurance. General liability insurance in the required amount, naming the Construction Contractors Board as certificate holder. Workers' compensation if you hire employees.

Bond. A CCB surety bond in the amount for your endorsement type.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Oregon median of $23.51 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $111.88 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.