- The middle half earn between $22.77 and $33.36 an hour.
- Only 5 states pay painters more at the median.
- The District of Columbia pays more than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 500 painters on payrolls in the District of Columbia.
- At the state median wage, a painting business needs to bill about $120.83 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Painter pay in the District of Columbia, 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 | $22.49 | $46,780 | $18.00 |
| 25th percentile | $22.77 | $47,360 | $21.46 |
| Median | $28.61 | $59,520 | $23.75 |
| 75th percentile | $33.36 | $69,390 | $29.65 |
| 90th percentile | $39.13 | $81,390 | $37.89 |
| Average (mean) | $29.92 | $62,240 | $26.64 |
Pay is bunched up in the District of Columbia. The top tenth earn $39.13 an hour or more, about 1.7 times the $22.49 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.1 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $22.49 against $18.00 at the bottom tenth, and $39.13 against $37.89 at the top.
The average, $29.92, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How the District of Columbia compares with other states
Over a full year, the the District of Columbia median of $59,520 is $10,120 more than the national $49,400.
In the state ranking, the District of Columbia sits 6th, between New York ($28.64) and Maine ($28.50). The range runs from $19.28 in Arkansas to $32.80 in Hawaii.
The District of Columbia pays painters more than any of its neighboring states, Maryland and Virginia. 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 the District of Columbia. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many painters work in the District of Columbia
The District of Columbia has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 500 painters on payrolls, 0.2% of the 225,190 nationwide.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.7 per 1,000 jobs, 0.49 times the national share.
What a painting business in the District of Columbia should charge
Higher wages in the District of Columbia go straight into the price. Take a painting business in the District of Columbia paying the state median of $28.61 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 | $28.61 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $64,061 |
| Break-even rate | ($64,061 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $102.71 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $102.71 ÷ 0.85 | $120.83 |
That is $120.83 per billable hour, 4.2 times the wage, and $8.53 more than the $112.30 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $33.36 in the District of Columbia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $129.17.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.77, the rate only drops to $110.58.
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 the District of Columbia
- 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.