How much do painters make in Pennsylvania in 2026?

Painters in Pennsylvania earn a median wage of $52,120 per year, which works out to roughly $25.06 per hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That number sits in the middle of a range that runs from $47,600 at the 25th percentile to $61,000 at the 75th percentile. In hourly terms, that spread is $22.88 on the lower end and $29.33 for painters in the top quarter. All figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025.

The gap between the 25th and 75th percentile — about $13,400 a year or $6.45 an hour — matters. It reflects real differences in experience, employer type, and the region of the state you work in. A painter with three years on the job doing residential repaint work in a rural county is going to land closer to $22–$23 an hour. A journeyman handling commercial or industrial coatings work around Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, especially with a union card or specialty certifications like lead abatement or industrial coatings, can realistically hit that $29-plus range or push past it.

Pennsylvania splits into two distinct labor markets for construction and finishing trades. The Philadelphia metro — including surrounding counties in the southeastern corner of the state — tends to run higher wages because of construction volume, prevailing wage jobs on public projects, and a higher cost of doing business. The Pittsburgh area follows a similar pattern. Central Pennsylvania, including the Harrisburg corridor, sits closer to the state median. Rural stretches in the north-central and southwestern parts of the state often see wages below the state median, where residential work dominates and commercial projects are fewer and farther between.

Employer type drives pay just as much as geography. Painting contractors who work primarily on commercial construction or industrial facilities — refineries, manufacturing plants, bridges, and infrastructure — tend to pay more per hour than residential-focused shops. Prevailing wage work on state or federally funded public projects is another lever. When a job falls under Pennsylvania's Prevailing Wage Act or the federal Davis-Bacon Act, posted wage rates for painters can exceed open-market rates by a meaningful margin, and those rates vary by county.

Experience and specialty skills consistently move the needle. Painters who can handle epoxy coatings, industrial spray application, lead or hazardous material abatement, or high-work situations like scaffolding and swing stages tend to earn more than those whose work is limited to brush-and-roller interior residential. OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 cards, fall protection training, and respirator fit certifications all signal to commercial and industrial contractors that a painter can work on the jobs with higher margins — and those jobs pay accordingly.

Apprenticeship also shapes where you start. A first-year apprentice will earn a percentage of the journeyman rate, often 50–60% depending on the program, meaning entry-level hourly pay can be in the $13–$15 range. Wages step up annually through the program. By the time a painter reaches journeyman status — typically four years in a formal apprenticeship — they're at or above the state median. The difference between grinding it out without a program versus completing a registered apprenticeship isn't just the wages during training; it's the connections to union halls, signatory contractors, and public-sector work that come after.

No union scale data is currently available for painters in Pennsylvania on TradesPays. Where union scale is available in other states, it provides a useful benchmark because it sets a floor on wages for covered work. Without that figure here, the BLS percentile range is your best reference for understanding where Pennsylvania painter wages sit.

One last factor worth naming: overtime. Painting work is seasonal and project-driven. A painter who puts in consistent overtime during the busy spring-through-fall season can add meaningfully to annual earnings beyond what the base hourly rate implies. The flip side is that slow winters can compress actual annual take-home well below what the median suggests. When evaluating an offer or comparing employers, ask about typical weekly hours across the full year, not just the busy season rate.