Statewide pay Government data
Painters in Washington earn a statewide median of $59,650 a year, 25% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #4 of 50 states and DC. About 9,510 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Washington
See all states on the painter overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes painter pay for 11 Washington metros. The highest-paying is Bremerton at $65,080, followed by Seattle and Olympia.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| BremertonWASHINGTON · WA | $65,080 | $61,625 | 810 |
| SeattleWASHINGTON · WA | $60,440 | $54,385 | 5,140 |
| OlympiaWASHINGTON · WA | $60,410 | $58,271 | 230 |
| KennewickWASHINGTON · WA | $58,990 | $58,943 | 520 |
| BellinghamWASHINGTON · WA | $58,810 | $56,913 | 280 |
| LongviewWASHINGTON · WA | $58,500 | $59,972 | 40 |
| Mount VernonWASHINGTON · WA | $57,990 | $56,607 | 150 |
| SpokaneWASHINGTON · WA | $57,050 | $56,853 | 700 |
| Walla WallaWASHINGTON · WA | $51,460 | $52,234 | 80 |
| WenatcheeWASHINGTON · WA | $50,630 | $48,751 | 210 |
| YakimaWASHINGTON · WA | $46,680 | $48,857 | 240 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Washington's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Paint walls, equipment, buildings, bridges, and other structural surfaces, using brushes, rollers, and spray guns. May remove old paint to prepare surface prior to painting. May mix colors or oils to obtain desired color or consistency.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3.0% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,900 openings a year. Typical training: moderate-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, painters have 124 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.4× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is overexertion and repetitive strain.
What the work is like Government data
How often painters deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of painter apprentices in Washington who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 71% completed (U.S.: 32%), about 8 graduates a year. The typical program runs 8,000 hours, about 4 years of full-time work. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Licensed contractors Government data
Washington had 2,139 active painting contractor licenses in October 2026. Washington requires every construction contractor to register with L&I, so the count covers specialty firms, not only licensed trades.
Washington Department of Labor & Industries, contractor license data, October 2026 (active licenses only).
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
Washington runs its own workplace-safety program (an OSHA State Plan), so its injury reports aren't in the federal dataset. Nationally, in states federal OSHA covers, painting contractors filed 352 severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024; the most common cause was falls, slips and trips (63%).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Licensing in Washington Official source
The main state licensing office in Washington is the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. It can point you to the right license for painters.
Official Washington licensing site ↗
Requirements for painters vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 18.0% of wage and salary workers in Washington were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#4 of 51 states and D.C.), and 19.4% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only painters.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Washington
All trades in Washington.