How much do plasterers make in Michigan in 2026?

The median plasterer in Michigan earns $72,990 a year, which works out to roughly $35.09 an hour based on a 2,080-hour work year. That is a solid middle-of-the-road figure, but where you land in the range depends heavily on how long you have been in the trade, who you work for, and where in the state you are working.

The bottom quarter of Michigan plasterers — workers still building their skills or working lighter schedules — earn $62,370 or less per year, about $29.99 an hour. The top quarter earn $77,450 or more, roughly $37.24 an hour. The spread from 25th to 75th percentile is about $15,080 a year, which tells you there is real money to be gained by moving up. All figures come from BLS OEWS data collected in May 2025.

Plastering is one of the more specialized finishing trades. Demand in Michigan tends to track older commercial buildings, historic restoration work, and high-end residential construction. Detroit and its inner-ring suburbs have a large stock of pre-war buildings — courthouses, schools, theaters, apartments — that need skilled plasterers for repair and restoration. That work tends to pay better than new-construction drywall finishing because the skill required is higher and the pool of qualified workers is smaller.

Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Ann Arbor also generate steady work. University buildings, hospitals, and government facilities in those cities often spec traditional plaster or high-end veneer systems, especially on renovation contracts. Plasterers who can read old drawings, match original profiles, and work with lime-based materials are harder to find and can command closer to or above the 75th percentile.

Experience is the single biggest lever on pay in this trade. A plasterer in their first two or three years is most likely sitting at or below the 25th percentile. By the time someone has five to eight years on the tools and can run a crew or handle ornamental work, the median or above is realistic. Workers with ten or more years and specialty skills — ornamental restoration, acoustic plaster, hard-coat systems — are the ones pulling $37 an hour and up.

Overtime is a meaningful part of annual income for plasterers on commercial projects. A busy plasterer logging 200 extra hours at time-and-a-half could add $10,000 to $12,000 to their annual total beyond what the BLS base figure captures. BLS OEWS figures reflect straight-time wage rates and do not include overtime premium pay, which means top earners in practice often exceed what the 75th percentile figure alone suggests.

Seasonality affects Michigan plasterers more than workers in warmer states. Exterior stucco and site work slow significantly from November through March in most of the state. Workers who pick up interior commercial or industrial projects through the winter keep their hours up, but those who depend heavily on exterior residential work may see reduced annual totals. If you are comparing your W-2 to the BLS numbers, keep in mind the BLS figures are based on workers employed during the May survey period, which is peak season.

Some workers may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement — check with your local for current rates.

Apprenticeship is the standard path into plastering in Michigan. A typical program runs three to four years and combines on-the-job hours with classroom instruction covering materials science, mixing ratios, surface preparation, and code requirements. Apprentice wages start below the 25th percentile but step up each year. Completing an apprenticeship and earning journeyman status is what moves most workers into the median range.

To push your pay above the median, the most direct routes are: accumulate years on commercial and restoration jobs rather than staying on residential-only work, develop ornamental or specialty skills, get comfortable estimating and supervising so you become valuable as a lead or foreman, and consider geographic flexibility — regional projects in northern Michigan or the Upper Peninsula sometimes pay travel and per diem on top of wages, effectively boosting total compensation well past what a local job provides.

TradesPays pulls its numbers directly from BLS OEWS to give you a clean, sourced baseline. Use the percentile range — $62,370 to $77,450 — as your benchmark when evaluating a job offer or negotiating a raise. If a shop is offering you 25th-percentile money and you have the experience of a 75th-percentile worker, that gap is worth having a conversation about.