How much do drywall installers make in Arizona in 2026?

The median drywall installer in Arizona earns $50,290 a year, which works out to about $24.18 an hour. That's the midpoint — half of installers in the state earn more, half earn less. If you're just starting out or working in a slower market, you're likely closer to the 25th percentile at $41,610 a year ($20.00/hr). Experienced hands working busy commercial or multi-family projects tend to land at the 75th percentile: $58,770 a year, or about $28.25 an hour.

These numbers come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025. They cover all drywall installers in Arizona — residential, commercial, and everything in between.

The spread from bottom to top quartile is about $17,160 a year. That gap exists for real reasons. The biggest factor is the type of work you're doing. Commercial jobs — office builds, hospitals, schools, high-rise interiors — pay more than tract-home residential work. Commercial projects demand tighter tolerances, more complex framing, and faster production rates. If you can hang and finish at a commercial pace, employers pay for it.

Experience moves the needle too, but it's not just years on the job. It's how much of that time you spent on fast-paced, high-production crews. A guy with five years on a busy commercial crew will out-earn someone with ten years doing slow residential work almost every time.

Geography within Arizona matters. The Phoenix metro area has the most construction activity and the most competition for skilled labor, which tends to push wages up. Tucson and smaller markets can run a few dollars per hour lower, though a tight labor market anywhere can flip that quickly.

No union scale data is available for drywall installers in Arizona at this time. Union membership in this trade is limited in the state, so most workers are employed by open-shop contractors. If you're working under a union agreement in a neighboring state and considering a move, check the local's current scale directly before you make any assumptions about take-home pay.

Overtime is a meaningful part of total earnings for many installers. A base of $24.18 an hour becomes $36.27 at time-and-a-half. On a project with regular 50-hour weeks, that extra ten hours a week adds up to roughly $7,500 or more over a full year. When you're comparing offers, ask about expected weekly hours, not just the base rate.

Benefits vary widely across Arizona contractors. Some larger commercial firms offer health insurance, paid time off, and retirement contributions — which can be worth several dollars an hour on top of your wage. Smaller residential outfits often pay a higher hourly rate with no benefits. Neither arrangement is automatically better; it depends on your situation. Run the full numbers before you decide.