How much do coatings inspectors make in 2026?
Coatings inspectors are counted in the BLS inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers and weighers series: OEWS May 2025 puts the SOC 51-9061 national median at $48,570 a year ($23.35 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $35,510 and the top 10% at $77,860. This pooling deserves a blunt warning. SOC 51-9061 is a 597,370-worker catch-all dominated by manufacturing quality inspection and production sorting, and it is a poor proxy for certified coatings inspection. Certified coatings inspectors — the people who verify surface preparation, ambient conditions, wet and dry film thickness, holiday detection and cure on bridges, tanks, pipelines, offshore structures and water assets — work under AMPP (formerly NACE) Coating Inspector Program certification levels, and their market is priced against project day rates rather than manufacturing wage scales. In practice an entry inspector may sit near this pooled median, while CIP Level 2 and Level 3 inspectors on industrial, marine and pipeline projects earn at and well above the top of this band, particularly on contract, shutdown and offshore assignments with per diem. Treat the pooled figures as a floor reference and the certification level as the real pay variable. Employment across the pooled series is projected to be essentially flat, changing by 0% through 2034 with roughly 69,900 openings a year. → Full coatings inspector career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $48,570 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Coatings Inspectors earn a national median $48,570/yr ($23.35/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 51-9061); the P10 to P90 range is $35,510 to $77,860.
- The BLS series here is a 597,370-worker catch-all dominated by manufacturing inspection, so its $48,570 median is a floor reference rather than a credible certified coatings inspector rate.
- AMPP (formerly NACE) Coating Inspector Program levels are the real pay ladder, and Level 2 and Level 3 inspectors on industrial and marine projects commonly earn at or above the top of the pooled band.
- Project structure drives earnings as much as rate: shutdown, pipeline and offshore assignments pay day rates with per diem and long shifts rather than a manufacturing salary.
US Coatings Inspector Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do coatings inspectors earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 51-9061; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 51-9061, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a coatings inspector earn at each career stage?
Coatings inspection pay is set by AMPP certification level and asset type, not by the pooled manufacturing wage scale. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 51-9061, which understates certified inspectors.
By State
Which states pay coatings inspectors the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the pooled BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations, and for this occupation they carry a double caveat: the underlying series is a manufacturing-dominated catch-all, and coatings inspection is priced by project rather than by local labour market. Gulf Coast refining, shipbuilding regions and states with large bridge and water asset programmes hold the best-paid work.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($55,860), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay coatings inspectors the most?
Metro figures are modeled — pooled national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. They should be read especially loosely here, because much certified coatings inspection is contract work on assets outside metro areas, paid at a day rate with per diem rather than a local salary.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a coatings inspector’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does coatings inspector pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Coatings Inspectors sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify coatings inspector wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a coatings inspector actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Coatings Inspector Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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