Drywall, plaster and paint

Three O*NET occupations make up the interior-surfaces trade: drywall and ceiling tile installers, who apply wallboard to ceilings and interior walls and include the lathers who fasten lath as a base for plaster; plasterers and stucco masons, who apply interior or exterior plaster, cement and stucco; and construction and maintenance painters, who paint surfaces using brushes, rollers and spray guns.

The drywall installer’s core tasks in O*NET include measuring with tape measures, straightedges or squares, fastening board with glue, nails or screws, and checking plumbness and level with spirit or water levels. O*NET records 66 tool commodities for drywall installers, 41 for plasterers and 94 for painters, the shortest lists among the trades mapped here. The trade’s distinctive tools are the knife, the hawk and the trowel used to apply and feather joint compound and plaster.

O*NET OnLine, the occupational database of the US Department of Labor, reports for Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers (47-2081.00), 102,200 people in 2025, a median wage of $28.33 an hour ($58,930 a year), projected growth for 2025–2035 described as average (3% to 4%), and 6,600 projected job openings; for Painters, Construction and Maintenance (47-2141.00), 326,900 people in 2025, a median wage of $23.75 an hour ($49,400 a year), projected growth for 2025–2035 described as average (3% to 4%), and 24,900 projected job openings; for Plasterers and Stucco Masons (47-2161.00), 22,900 people in 2025, a median wage of $27.72 an hour ($57,660 a year), projected growth for 2025–2035 described as average (3% to 4%), and 1,500 projected job openings.