- The middle half earn between $22.42 and $28.89 an hour.
- Wisconsin ranks 23rd of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Wisconsin pays more than 1 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 3,350 painters on payrolls in Wisconsin.
- At the state median wage, a painting business needs to bill about $112.88 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Painter pay in Wisconsin, 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 | $18.21 | $37,870 | $18.00 |
| 25th percentile | $22.42 | $46,640 | $21.46 |
| Median | $24.08 | $50,090 | $23.75 |
| 75th percentile | $28.89 | $60,100 | $29.65 |
| 90th percentile | $36.08 | $75,040 | $37.89 |
| Average (mean) | $26.05 | $54,170 | $26.64 |
From the bottom tenth ($18.21) to the top tenth ($36.08), the top of the scale pays about 2 times the bottom in Wisconsin, close to the 2.1 times spread for painters nationwide.
The floor is higher than nationally ($18.21 against $18.00) but the ceiling is lower ($36.08 against $37.89), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage, $26.05, sits 8% 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 Wisconsin compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $50,090 in Wisconsin against $49,400 nationally, $690 more.
In the state ranking, Wisconsin sits 23rd, between Indiana ($24.16) and Iowa ($23.90). The range runs from $19.28 in Arkansas to $32.80 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, Wisconsin is in the middle: Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota pay more, and Iowa pays less.
How many painters work in Wisconsin
About 3,350 painters work on payrolls in Wisconsin, 1.5% of the 225,190 nationwide, the 24th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 1.1 per 1,000 jobs, 0.79 times the national share.
What a painting business in Wisconsin should charge
Say you run a painting business in Wisconsin and pay the state median of $24.08 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on 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 | $24.08 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $53,918 |
| Break-even rate | ($53,918 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $95.95 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $95.95 ÷ 0.85 | $112.88 |
That is $112.88 per billable hour, 4.7 times the wage, and almost the same as the $112.30 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $28.89 in Wisconsin, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $121.32.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.42, the rate only drops to $109.96.
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 Wisconsin
- 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.