How much do industrial painters make in 2026?
Industrial painters are counted in the BLS coating, painting and spraying machine setters, operators and tenders series: OEWS May 2025 puts the SOC 51-9124 national median at $48,250 a year ($23.20 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $36,260 and the top 10% at $74,730. That series is dominated by factory finishing — production spray booths and powder coating lines — so it understates field industrial coating work. Applying protective coatings to tanks, bridges, structural steel, pipelines, marine vessels and process plant is a different job: it requires surface preparation to visual standards, mixing and applying multi-component industrial coatings inside recoat windows, working in containment with respiratory protection, and often working at height or in confined spaces. Those applicators earn toward and above the top of the pooled band, particularly on shutdown, marine and bridge contracts where hours are long and per diem applies. The pay ladder runs through spray capability with plural-component and high-solids products, containment and lead-paint qualified work, and supervision. SSPC and AMPP training is the industry credential set. Employment across the pooled series is projected to grow 0.7% through 2034 with roughly 15,800 openings a year. → Full industrial painter career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $48,250 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Industrial Painters earn a national median $48,250/yr ($23.20/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 51-9124); the P10 to P90 range is $36,260 to $74,730.
- The BLS series here is dominated by factory spray and powder coating, so its $48,250 median understates field industrial coating work within the $36,260 to $74,730 band.
- Tank, bridge, marine and plant coating applicators earn toward and above the top of that band, especially on shutdown and contract work with long hours and per diem.
- Plural-component and high-solids spray capability, containment and lead-paint qualification, and SSPC and AMPP training are the specific things that raise an applicator's rate.
US Industrial Painter Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do industrial painters 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 51-9124; 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 51-9124, 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 an industrial painter earn at each career stage?
Industrial coating pay follows spray capability, containment competence and the assets you are trusted on. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 51-9124, which understates field applicators.
By State
Which states pay industrial painters 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 they should be read with the pooling caveat in mind. Industrial coating work concentrates around ports, refineries, shipyards, bridge programmes and water infrastructure, and those markets pay field applicators above the modeled figure.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($55,490), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay industrial painters the most?
Metro figures are modeled — pooled national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. Much industrial coating work sits outside metro cores on bridges, tank farms and plants, where the earnings structure is shift length, hazard pay and per diem rather than a city premium.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise an industrial painter’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 industrial painter pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Industrial Painters 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 industrial painter wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an industrial painter 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
Industrial Painter Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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