State of the handyman trade, 2026
What handymen earn in every state, where the jobs are, how fast the work is projected to grow, which states license it and what typical handyman jobs cost. Every figure comes from a public dataset or a koira.ai cost guide, with the method below and a CSV of the full table.
The short version
- The national median for handymen is $23.84 an hour ($49,590 a year). Pay runs from $18.70 in West Virginia to $29.00 in District of Columbia. BLS has no wage series of its own for handymen; these are its figures for maintenance and repair workers, general, the closest group.
- California has the most handymen on payrolls, 143,060. See handyman pay in every state.
- State labor offices project +3.6% more jobs nationally from 2022 to 2032, with about 152,400 openings a year. Utah leads at +20.7%.
- 2 of the 47 states koira.ai has checked require a state license for handyman work, 35 license part of it and 10 leave it to cities and counties. The handyman license guide has each state's steps.
- A typical handyman services is about $350 nationally in Koira's handyman services cost guide. By state, the Koira estimate runs from $286 in Arkansas to $458 in Hawaii.
What handymen earn
Median hourly wage by state, May 2025, the ten highest paying states. BLS published a median for 51 of the 50 states and DC.
The five lowest: West Virginia $18.70, Oklahoma $20.55, Arkansas $20.87, Alabama $20.97 and Louisiana $21.13.
| Percentile | Hourly |
|---|---|
| 10th | $17.00 |
| 25th | $19.64 |
| Median | $23.84 |
| 75th | $30.10 |
| 90th | $37.11 |
What that wage means for a price
A wage is not a rate. Using the starting numbers of the free labor rate calculator (40 hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and a 15% profit), a business paying the national median has to bill about $112.46 an hour to cover it.
| Where | Median wage | Rate to bill |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $23.84 | $112.46 |
| District of Columbia, highest median | $29.00 | $121.52 |
| West Virginia, lowest median | $18.70 | $103.43 |
Change any of those numbers in the calculator to see your own rate. The CSV has the rate for every state.
Where the work is
The ten states with the most handymen employed, May 2025.
Where the trade is most concentrated
Handymen per 1,000 jobs of every kind in the state. A high number means the trade is a bigger share of local work than it is nationally.
Jobs outlook
State labor market offices project maintenance and repair workers, general jobs nationally to go from 1,607,200 in 2022 to 1,664,400 in 2032, a change of +3.6%, with about 152,400 openings a year from growth, retirements and people leaving the trade.
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, on a newer base, projects 4% growth for general maintenance and repair workers from 2025 to 2035, about 148,700 openings a year.
The ten states with the fastest projected growth, 2022 to 2032. Projections exist for 50 states.
Slowest: Maine -1.2%, Ohio +2.0% and Michigan +2.0%. The path into the trade, state by state, is in how to become a handyman.
Licensing
Does the state require a state license for handyman work? Each answer comes from the state's own board or statute.
- State license: 2 states: District of Columbia and Maryland.
- Partly licensed (residential only, above a dollar amount, or a registration): 35. Local only: 10. Not checked yet: 4.
- 33 of the 47 checked states put an insurance or bond rule in the license itself.
What handyman jobs cost
National price ranges from Koira's cost guides. Each guide takes the low, average and high figures of two or more published cost guides and shows them.
| Job | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Door repair | $75 | $220 | $540 |
| TV mounting | $130 | $220 | $320 |
| Window screen replacement | $120 | $260 | $460 |
| Handyman services | $160 | $350 | $620 |
| Window repair | $130 | $400 | $620 |
| Storm door installation | $240 | $440 | $720 |
| Drywall repair | $250 | $480 | $740 |
| Interior door installation | $440 | $880 | $1,350 |
| Pocket door installation | $800 | $1,050 | $2,500 |
| Security door installation | $540 | $1,100 | $2,050 |
| Front door replacement | $550 | $1,350 | $1,850 |
| Crown molding installation | $1,300 | $2,250 | $3,050 |
| French door installation | $1,550 | $2,350 | $4,600 |
| Sliding glass door replacement | $1,150 | $2,550 | $6,250 |
One job, state by state
Koira estimates of a typical handyman services in the ten most expensive states. Only the labor share of the price moves with the state's BLS wage; materials do not.
Every state
| State | Median hourly | Employed | Jobs 2022 to 2032 | State license | Typical handyman services |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $23.84 | 1,529,700 | +3.6% | 2 states | $350 |
| Alabama | $20.97 | 16,660 | +6.9% | Partly | $295 |
| Alaska | $28.97 | 4,590 | +8.7% | Partly | $426 |
| Arizona | $22.90 | 39,000 | +12.8% | Partly | $343 |
| Arkansas | $20.87 | 12,410 | +7.0% | Partly | $286 |
| California | $27.41 | 143,060 | +7.3% | Partly | $407 |
| Colorado | $24.65 | 22,960 | +11.7% | No, local only | $358 |
| Connecticut | $27.70 | 11,700 | +11.8% | Partly | $407 |
| Delaware | $24.11 | 3,310 | +8.7% | Partly | $349 |
| District of Columbia | $29.00 | 4,860 | +9.0% | Yes | $400 |
| Florida | $22.15 | 111,530 | +12.8% | Partly | $302 |
| Georgia | $22.92 | 48,430 | +11.5% | Partly | $304 |
| Hawaii | $27.86 | 8,030 | Not published | Partly | $458 |
| Idaho | $23.17 | 8,200 | +14.8% | Partly | $334 |
| Illinois | $27.27 | 66,600 | +4.4% | No, local only | $449 |
| Indiana | $23.99 | 34,480 | +4.6% | No, local only | $361 |
| Iowa | $25.08 | 16,500 | +8.2% | Partly | $350 |
| Kansas | $22.70 | 12,730 | +5.0% | No, local only | $328 |
| Kentucky | $22.50 | 22,190 | +6.6% | Not checked yet | $320 |
| Louisiana | $21.13 | 21,490 | +5.9% | Partly | $305 |
| Maine | $23.76 | 5,820 | -1.2% | No, local only | $354 |
| Maryland | $24.76 | 23,730 | +7.0% | Yes | $352 |
| Massachusetts | $28.04 | 29,830 | +6.5% | Partly | $434 |
| Michigan | $22.87 | 39,490 | +2.0% | Partly | $358 |
| Minnesota | $28.46 | 29,660 | +4.2% | Partly | $411 |
| Mississippi | $21.32 | 14,550 | +5.1% | Partly | $290 |
| Missouri | $23.26 | 31,180 | +7.3% | Not checked yet | $360 |
| Montana | $22.54 | 5,420 | +12.3% | Partly | $357 |
| Nebraska | $24.38 | 9,850 | +7.4% | Partly | $323 |
| Nevada | $25.17 | 16,520 | +17.2% | Partly | $360 |
| New Hampshire | $25.40 | 5,780 | +8.8% | No, local only | $353 |
| New Jersey | $26.35 | 37,350 | +3.0% | Partly | $415 |
| New Mexico | $22.00 | 9,320 | +14.6% | Partly | $305 |
| New York | $27.79 | 119,650 | +11.9% | No, local only | $401 |
| North Carolina | $23.03 | 43,440 | +9.4% | Partly | $302 |
| North Dakota | $23.96 | 3,300 | +7.9% | Partly | $358 |
| Ohio | $25.68 | 64,770 | +2.0% | No, local only | $362 |
| Oklahoma | $20.55 | 18,670 | +6.9% | No, local only | $299 |
| Oregon | $26.13 | 16,160 | +11.9% | Partly | $381 |
| Pennsylvania | $23.70 | 55,590 | +3.8% | Partly | $355 |
| Rhode Island | $24.47 | 4,500 | +9.9% | Partly | $366 |
| South Carolina | $23.02 | 28,020 | +11.9% | Partly | $303 |
| South Dakota | $23.13 | 3,450 | +8.7% | No, local only | $306 |
| Tennessee | $22.71 | 35,790 | +19.1% | Partly | $308 |
| Texas | $22.44 | 140,580 | +16.7% | Not checked yet | $301 |
| Utah | $24.26 | 16,090 | +20.7% | Partly | $339 |
| Vermont | $26.69 | 2,610 | +9.9% | Partly | $351 |
| Virginia | $23.79 | 34,540 | +3.9% | Partly | $335 |
| Washington | $28.44 | 32,450 | +14.8% | Partly | $425 |
| West Virginia | $18.70 | 8,060 | +4.4% | Partly | $341 |
| Wisconsin | $26.83 | 30,880 | +8.5% | Partly | $369 |
| Wyoming | $23.03 | 3,920 | +14.6% | Not checked yet | $351 |
How this report is made
Pay and employment are cells from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics files for May 2025 (state file, national file), occupation code 49-9071, all industries. They count people on a payroll; owner-operators are not in them. A cell BLS did not publish reads "Not published" and is empty in the CSV. BLS has no wage series of its own for handymen; these are its figures for maintenance and repair workers, general, the closest group.
The rate to bill is the labor rate calculator's formula with its starting assumptions listed above and only the wage changed: the yearly cost of the worker plus overhead, spread over the billable hours, then a profit margin on top.
Job projections are each state labor market office's long-term projection for 2022 to 2032, published together by Projections Central. A state missing from that file has no figure here. The national outlook line quotes the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Licensing counts only rows of the handyman license guide that an official board or statute page confirmed. States not checked yet are shown that way, never guessed. This is not legal advice.
Job prices come from the koira.ai cost guides. The national band is worked out from the published guides each one lists. State prices are Koira estimates: the labor share of the band is scaled by the state's BLS median wage for the work over the national median, held to 0.7 to 1.4. See the job prices by state report for the same method across trades.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, General Maintenance and Repair Workers; Projections Central, long-term occupational projections 2022 to 2032 (state labor market offices); Fixr, door repair cost; HomeAdvisor, door repair cost; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files); Fixr, tv mounting cost; HomeAdvisor, tv mounting cost; Bob Vila, tv mounting cost; Fixr, window screen replacement cost; HomeAdvisor, window screen replacement cost; Today's Homeowner, window screen replacement cost; Fixr, handyman services cost; HomeAdvisor, handyman services cost; Bob Vila, handyman services cost; Fixr, window repair cost; HomeAdvisor, window repair cost; This Old House, window repair cost; Today's Homeowner, window repair cost; Fixr, storm door installation cost; HomeAdvisor, storm door installation cost; Fixr, drywall repair cost; HomeAdvisor, drywall repair cost; Fixr, interior door installation cost; HomeAdvisor, interior door installation cost; Fixr, pocket door installation cost; HomeAdvisor, pocket door installation cost; Fixr, security door installation cost; HomeAdvisor, security door installation cost; Fixr, front door replacement cost; HomeAdvisor, front door replacement cost; Bob Vila, front door replacement cost; Fixr, crown molding installation cost; HomeAdvisor, crown molding installation cost; CostHelper, crown molding installation cost; Fixr, french door installation cost; HomeAdvisor, french door installation cost; Fixr, sliding glass door replacement cost; HomeAdvisor, sliding glass door replacement cost; Bob Vila, sliding glass door replacement cost; This Old House, sliding glass door replacement cost; Today's Homeowner, sliding glass door replacement cost.
Running a handyman business? See how handyman businesses run on Koira, free on the Office plan.
Data as of: BLS wages and employment, May 2025. Job projections, 2022 to 2032 (Projections Central). License rows checked October 8, 2026. Cost guides checked October 9, 2026. All reports.