How much do drywall installers make in Florida in 2026?

Florida drywall installers earn a median wage of $48,970 a year, which works out to roughly $23.54 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That number sits in the middle of the range — half of drywall installers in the state earn more, half earn less. It is a solid baseline for anyone sizing up a job offer or negotiating a raise.

The bottom quarter of earners in Florida — the 25th percentile — come in at $39,260 annually, or about $18.88 an hour. If you are new to the trade, just finishing an apprenticeship, or working in a slower regional market, this is likely the range you will start in. It is not the ceiling; it is the floor for workers with some documented experience.

The top quarter of earners hit $54,730 a year or higher, translating to roughly $26.31 an hour. These are workers who typically have years of production experience, can handle complex hanging and finishing details, work on commercial or multi-family projects where volume is high, and show up consistently. Getting from the median to the 75th percentile is not luck — it usually comes down to speed, quality, and the type of contractor or project you land with.

The spread between the 25th and 75th percentile is $15,470 a year. That gap matters. It means the difference between $18.88 an hour and $26.31 an hour is real and achievable within the same state, same trade, and often the same metro area. Where you work geographically inside Florida plays a role. The Tampa, Orlando, and Miami markets have seen sustained residential and commercial construction activity, and contractors in those corridors tend to pay above the state median to keep reliable crews. Smaller markets and rural counties often track closer to or below the 25th percentile.

Project type is another driver. Residential new construction and repair work tends to pay on the lower end because the pace can be inconsistent. Commercial work — office buildouts, hospitality, healthcare — usually pays better because it demands tighter tolerances, faster schedules, and more accountability on the job site.

No union scale data is available for drywall installers in Florida. The trade is largely non-union in this state, so wages are set by individual contractors and negotiated worker by worker. That puts more weight on knowing your market rate before you sit down with an employer.

Overtime is a real income lever in this trade. At the median hourly rate of $23.54, a single overtime hour pays $35.31. A worker averaging just five overtime hours per week adds roughly $9,181 to their annual gross pay — pushing a median earner close to the 75th percentile without a formal raise.

Benefits vary widely. Some Florida drywall contractors offer health insurance, paid time off, and retirement contributions. Others offer straight wages with no benefits. When comparing offers, price out what it would cost you to buy health coverage independently — that can easily run $300 to $600 a month for an individual — and factor that into your effective hourly rate.

All figures on this page come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. TradesPays reports the data as published — no adjustments, no estimates layered on top.