- The middle half earn between $17.90 and $26.95 an hour.
- Rhode Island is 49th of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- Rhode Island pays less than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,160 painters on payrolls in Rhode Island.
- At the state median wage, a painting business needs to bill about $105.71 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Painter pay in Rhode Island, 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 | $15.00 | $31,200 | $18.00 |
| 25th percentile | $17.90 | $37,230 | $21.46 |
| Median | $20.00 | $41,590 | $23.75 |
| 75th percentile | $26.95 | $56,060 | $29.65 |
| 90th percentile | $30.96 | $64,410 | $37.89 |
| Average (mean) | $23.15 | $48,150 | $26.64 |
From the bottom tenth ($15.00) to the top tenth ($30.96), the top of the scale pays about 2.1 times the bottom in Rhode Island, close to the 2.1 times spread for painters nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $3.00 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $6.93 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage, $23.15, sits 16% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical painter makes.
How Rhode Island compares with other states
Over a full year, the Rhode Island median of $41,590 is $7,810 less than the national $49,400.
In the state ranking, Rhode Island sits 49th, between Tennessee ($20.78) and South Carolina ($19.64). The range runs from $19.28 in Arkansas to $32.80 in Hawaii.
Every one of the neighboring states pays painters more than Rhode Island. The closest is Massachusetts at $27.65, and the biggest gap is with Connecticut.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Rhode Island |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | $20.00 | $41,590 | |
| Connecticut | $28.12 | $58,480 | +$8.12 an hour |
| Massachusetts | $27.65 | $57,510 | +$7.65 an hour |
How many painters work in Rhode Island
About 1,160 painters work on payrolls in Rhode Island, 0.5% of the 225,190 nationwide, the 38th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 2.3 of every 1,000 jobs in Rhode Island, 1.6 times the national share.
What a painting business in Rhode Island should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a painting business in Rhode Island paying the state median of $20.00, on the labor rate calculator's 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 | $20.00 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $44,782 |
| Break-even rate | ($44,782 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $89.85 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $89.85 ÷ 0.85 | $105.71 |
That is $105.71 per billable hour, 5.3 times the wage, and $6.59 less than the $112.30 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $26.95 in Rhode Island, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $117.92.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $17.90, the rate only drops to $102.02.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a painter in Rhode Island
- Licensing. What Rhode Island asks for before you can work on your own: Painting contractor license in Rhode Island.
- 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.