Statewide pay Government data
Plasterers in Michigan earn a statewide median of $72,990 a year, 24% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #7 of 28 states. About 210 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Michigan
See all states on the plasterer overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes plasterer pay for 2 Michigan metros: Detroit and Grand Rapids.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| DetroitMICHIGAN · MI | $77,290 | $77,060 | 70 |
| Grand RapidsMICHIGAN · MI | $74,570 | $78,046 | 30 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
The job (national)
Apply interior or exterior plaster, cement, stucco, or similar materials. May also set ornamental plaster.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2.8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,500 openings a year. Typical training: long-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, plasterers have 157 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.8× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often plasterers 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.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
Michigan 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, drywall and plaster contractors filed 512 severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024; the most common cause was falls, slips and trips (67%).
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 Michigan Official source
The main state licensing office in Michigan is the LARA Bureau of Construction Codes. It can point you to the right license for plasterers.
Official Michigan licensing site ↗
Requirements for plasterers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 13.0% of wage and salary workers in Michigan were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#14 of 51 states and D.C.), and 14.2% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only plasterers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Michigan
All trades in Michigan.