National Averages

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that construction and maintenance painters held about 214,240 jobs in the United States in 2009. These painters earned an average salary of about $17.94 per hour or about $37,320 per year. Painters in the top 10th percentile of earners made about $27.93 per hour or about $58,100 per year, while those in the lowest 10th percentile made about $10.89 per hour or about $22,650 per year.
  
  

Most Common Sectors

• The "building finishing contractors" sector of the industry employed by far the highest number of painters in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimated 144,250 workers in this sector earned an average of about $17.51 per hour or about $36,410 per year. The estimated 10,200 painters working in the next most common sector, "residential building construction," earned an average of about $15.95 per hour or about $33,180 per year.
  
  

Highest-Paying Sectors

• The highest-paying sector for painters, "natural gas distribution," most likely did not include interior painters. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that painters in the "motion picture and video industries" sector earned the second-highest average wage out of all sectors in 2009, making about $27.04 per hour or about $56,230 per year. The third-highest paying sector for painters was "scientific research and development services," where these workers made about $26.94 an hour or $56,040 per year.
  
  

Geographic Differences

• The states with the highest average painters salaries in 2009 were, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Illinois, New York, Nevada, Hawaii and Alaska. Painters working in Illinois had the highest average salaries, earning about $24.02 per hour or about $49,960 per year, while those in the fifth-highest paying state, Alaska, made about $22.18 per hour or about $46,140 per year.