- The middle half earn between $15.75 and $26.11 an hour.
- West Virginia is 45th of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- West Virginia pays less than all 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 720 painters on payrolls in West Virginia.
- At the state median wage, a painting business needs to bill about $107.92 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Painter pay in West Virginia, 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 | $14.04 | $29,200 | $18.00 |
| 25th percentile | $15.75 | $32,760 | $21.46 |
| Median | $21.26 | $44,230 | $23.75 |
| 75th percentile | $26.11 | $54,310 | $29.65 |
| 90th percentile | $30.60 | $63,640 | $37.89 |
| Average (mean) | $21.53 | $44,770 | $26.64 |
From the bottom tenth ($14.04) to the top tenth ($30.60), the top of the scale pays about 2.2 times the bottom in West Virginia, close to the 2.1 times spread for painters nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $3.96 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $7.29 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $21.53, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How West Virginia compares with other states
Over a full year, the West Virginia median of $44,230 is $5,170 less than the national $49,400.
In the state ranking, West Virginia sits 45th, between Mississippi ($21.54) and North Carolina ($21.21). The range runs from $19.28 in Arkansas to $32.80 in Hawaii.
Every one of the neighboring states pays painters more than West Virginia. The closest is Virginia at $22.82, and the biggest gap is with Pennsylvania.
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 West Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | $21.26 | $44,230 | |
| Kentucky | $23.13 | $48,110 | +$1.87 an hour |
| Maryland | $23.62 | $49,120 | +$2.36 an hour |
| Ohio | $23.77 | $49,450 | +$2.51 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $25.06 | $52,120 | +$3.80 an hour |
| Virginia | $22.82 | $47,470 | +$1.56 an hour |
How many painters work in West Virginia
About 720 painters work on payrolls in West Virginia, 0.3% of the 225,190 nationwide, the 44th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 1.0 per 1,000 jobs, 0.70 times the national share.
What a painting business in West Virginia 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 West Virginia paying the state median of $21.26, 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 | $21.26 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $47,604 |
| Break-even rate | ($47,604 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $91.74 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $91.74 ÷ 0.85 | $107.92 |
That is $107.92 per billable hour, 5.1 times the wage, and $4.37 less than the $112.30 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $26.11 in West Virginia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $116.44.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $15.75, the rate only drops to $98.25.
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 West Virginia
- Licensing. What West Virginia asks for before you can work on your own: Painting contractor license in West Virginia.
- 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.