- The middle half earn between $28.59 and $41.00 an hour.
- No state pays painters more at the median.
- Hawaii pays more than both nearby states it is compared with.
- BLS counts about 1,900 painters on payrolls in Hawaii.
- At the state median wage, a painting business needs to bill about $128.19 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Painter pay in Hawaii, 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 | $22.64 | $47,090 | $18.00 |
| 25th percentile | $28.59 | $59,480 | $21.46 |
| Median | $32.80 | $68,220 | $23.75 |
| 75th percentile | $41.00 | $85,280 | $29.65 |
| 90th percentile | $43.67 | $90,830 | $37.89 |
| Average (mean) | $34.28 | $71,310 | $26.64 |
Pay is bunched up in Hawaii. The top tenth earn $43.67 an hour or more, about 1.9 times the $22.64 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: $22.64 against $18.00 at the bottom tenth, and $43.67 against $37.89 at the top.
The average, $34.28, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Hawaii compares with other states
Over a full year, the Hawaii median of $68,220 is $18,820 more than the national $49,400.
No state pays more. The next highest is Illinois at $29.45, and the lowest is Arkansas at $19.28.
Hawaii has no land border, so it is set here against California and Alaska. Hawaii pays more than both.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Hawaii. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Nearby state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Hawaii |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $32.80 | $68,220 | |
| California | $28.38 | $59,020 | −$4.42 an hour |
| Alaska | $29.32 | $60,980 | −$3.48 an hour |
How many painters work in Hawaii
About 1,900 painters work on payrolls in Hawaii, 0.8% of the 225,190 nationwide, the 31st largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 3.0 of every 1,000 jobs in Hawaii, 2.1 times the national share.
What a painting business in Hawaii should charge
Higher wages in Hawaii go straight into the price. Take a painting business in Hawaii paying the state median of $32.80 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 | $32.80 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $73,443 |
| Break-even rate | ($73,443 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $108.96 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $108.96 ÷ 0.85 | $128.19 |
That is $128.19 per billable hour, 3.9 times the wage, and $15.89 more than the $112.30 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $41.00 in Hawaii, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $142.59.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $28.59, the rate only drops to $120.80.
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 Hawaii
- Licensing. What Hawaii asks for before you can work on your own: Painting contractor license in Hawaii.
- 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.