How much do plasterers make in Illinois in 2026?

Plasterers in Illinois earn a median annual salary of $93,790, which works out to $45.09 per hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That puts Illinois plasterers well above many other construction trades in the state and reflects steady demand for skilled finish work across commercial, residential, and restoration projects throughout the Chicago metro and beyond.

The bottom quarter of Illinois plasterers — the 25th percentile — earns $76,290 per year, or roughly $36.68 per hour. These are typically workers still building their hours, newer to the trade, or working for smaller contractors with less consistent project flow. It is a solid starting point, but there is clear room to grow.

The top quarter — the 75th percentile — reaches $105,660 per year, or about $50.80 per hour. Plasterers hitting this tier are usually journeymen with deep experience in ornamental, venetian, or historic restoration work, or those running crews and taking on complex commercial jobs. The jump from the 25th to the 75th percentile is roughly $29,370 annually — a meaningful gap that rewards skill development and specialization.

Illinois is one of the stronger states for plasterer earnings in the Midwest. The Chicago metropolitan area drives much of that demand, with ongoing commercial construction, high-end residential renovation, and historic preservation work in neighborhoods like the Loop, Lincoln Park, and the North Shore suburbs. Institutional work — schools, hospitals, government buildings — also provides a steady pipeline of plastering contracts that keep experienced workers busy year-round.

Specialty skills push pay toward the top of the range. Plasterers who can execute three-coat hard plaster systems, EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems), ornamental casting, or historically accurate lime plaster restoration are consistently in shorter supply than general drywall finishers. If you can handle a full scope from scratch coat to finish on a landmark building or high-spec interior, contractors will pay for it.

Hours and consistency matter too. Full-time plasterers working 40-hour weeks through a commercial contractor typically see more stable annual earnings than those piecing together residential jobs. Weather can slow exterior work in Illinois winters, so diversifying into interior commercial work helps workers stay closer to the median or above it year-round.

No union scale data is available for this specific trade and state in the BLS OEWS May 2025 dataset, so the figures above reflect the full mix of union and non-union workers across Illinois. In practice, plasterers working under a union agreement in the Chicago area may see rates and benefit packages that differ from statewide averages — check with the local plastering union for current scale wages if that applies to you.

All salary data on this page comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. These are employer-reported figures covering real jobs across the state, not self-reported estimates.