- The middle half earn between $22.85 and $35.11 an hour.
- Only 8 states pay painters more at the median.
- California pays more than all 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 38,430 painters on payrolls in California.
- At the state median wage, a painting business needs to bill about $120.43 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Painter pay in California, bottom to top
These are BLS figures for painters in construction and maintenance: house painters, commercial painters and maintenance crews. Artists and auto painters are counted elsewhere.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $20.26 | $42,130 | $18.00 |
| 25th percentile | $22.85 | $47,520 | $21.46 |
| Median | $28.38 | $59,020 | $23.75 |
| 75th percentile | $35.11 | $73,040 | $29.65 |
| 90th percentile | $43.75 | $91,000 | $37.89 |
| Average (mean) | $30.03 | $62,460 | $26.64 |
From the bottom tenth ($20.26) to the top tenth ($43.75), the top of the scale pays about 2.2 times the bottom in California, close to the 2.1 times spread for painters nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $20.26 against $18.00 at the bottom tenth, and $43.75 against $37.89 at the top.
The average, $30.03, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How California compares with other states
Over a full year, the California median of $59,020 is $9,620 more than the national $49,400.
In the state ranking, California sits 9th, between New Jersey ($28.49) and Delaware ($28.14). The range runs from $19.28 in Arkansas to $32.80 in Hawaii.
California pays painters more than any of its neighboring states, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in California. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many painters work in California
BLS estimates 38,430 painters on payrolls in California, 17.1% of the 225,190 nationwide. No other state has more.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 2.1 of every 1,000 jobs in California, 1.5 times the national share.
What a painting business in California should charge
Higher wages in California go straight into the price. Take a painting business in California paying the state median of $28.38 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its starting numbers (40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit).
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $28.38 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $63,546 |
| Break-even rate | ($63,546 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $102.36 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $102.36 ÷ 0.85 | $120.43 |
That is $120.43 per billable hour, 4.2 times the wage, and $8.13 more than the $112.30 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $35.11 in California, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $132.25.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.85, the rate only drops to $110.72.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a painter in California
- Licensing. What California asks for before you can work on your own: Painting contractor license in California.
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how painting companies run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-2141, painters, construction and maintenance, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: painter salary by state.