How much do plasterers make in Wisconsin in 2026?

The median plasterer in Wisconsin earns $50,700 per year, which works out to roughly $24.38 per hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's the midpoint — half of Wisconsin plasterers earn more, half earn less. It's a useful anchor, but where you fall depends heavily on your experience, the sector you work in, and how consistently you can find work across the seasons.

The bottom quarter of earners — workers early in their careers or working fewer hours — come in at $48,270 annually, or about $23.21 per hour. The top quarter clears $54,090 per year, around $26.00 per hour. The spread between the 25th and 75th percentile is roughly $5,800 a year. That gap is narrower than in many other trades, which tells you plastering in Wisconsin has a fairly compressed wage structure. Breaking through the $54,000 ceiling typically means picking up specialty work — decorative plaster, historic restoration, or EIFS (exterior insulation and finish systems) — where fewer workers have the skills and demand is steadier.

These figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, May 2025. BLS OEWS captures base wages from employer payroll records. It does not include overtime pay, per diem allowances, or benefits like employer-paid health insurance and retirement contributions. A plasterer taking regular overtime at time-and-a-half can move their effective annual earnings meaningfully above what the straight hourly rate suggests. If you're working 50-hour weeks through a busy stretch from spring through fall, the real take-home looks better than the median implies.

Seasonality matters in Wisconsin. Plastering is largely an interior trade, which gives it more weather resilience than roofing or masonry, but commercial construction schedules and new residential starts still follow a warmer-season ramp-up. Workers who build relationships with commercial contractors — hospitals, schools, government buildings — tend to see more consistent year-round hours than those who rely on residential remodeling work alone.

Geography within Wisconsin also plays a role, even if BLS publishes a single statewide figure. The Milwaukee metro and the Madison area have denser commercial construction pipelines, which generally means more hours and potentially higher wages through sheer volume of work. Smaller markets in the northern or central parts of the state may offer less consistent work, making the annual earnings picture harder to predict regardless of your hourly rate.

Apprenticeship is the standard entry path for plasterers. A typical plasterer apprenticeship runs three to four years and combines on-the-job hours with related classroom instruction. Wages during apprenticeship start below the figures listed here and step up at regular intervals as you log hours and pass competency benchmarks. Once you complete your apprenticeship and reach journeyman status, your pay moves into the range reflected in these BLS numbers. Some workers may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement — check with your local for current rates.

To push your pay above the 75th percentile, the most direct routes are adding certifications in specialty plaster systems, moving into a lead or foreman role on larger commercial jobs, or building enough of a reputation in historic restoration to command project-based rates rather than straight hourly pay. Restoration work on older Wisconsin buildings — courthouses, churches, schools — requires skills that are genuinely scarce, and contractors doing that work often pay a premium to find someone who knows how to match original plaster profiles and finishes.

All figures on this page are sourced from BLS OEWS May 2025 and reflect Wisconsin statewide wages for plasterers and stucco masons (SOC 47-2161).