How much do tile & stone setters make in Massachusetts in 2026?

Tile and Stone Setters in Massachusetts earn a median wage of $81,150 per year, which works out to roughly $39.01 per hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That puts Massachusetts solidly above the national median for this trade, reflecting both the high cost of living and the consistent demand for finish work in the state's residential, commercial, and institutional construction sectors.

The pay spread across the trade is significant. Workers at the 25th percentile — those newer to the trade or working in lower-demand areas — earn around $59,190 annually, or about $28.46 per hour. At the 75th percentile, experienced setters with a strong book of work or specialty skills pull in $95,940 per year, equivalent to $46.13 per hour. That's a $36,750 annual gap between the lower and upper quartiles, which tells you that experience, specialization, and who you work for make a real difference in what ends up in your paycheck.

Massachusetts concentrates a lot of its tile and stone work in Greater Boston, where high-end residential renovations, hotel builds, luxury condos, and healthcare facility construction keep demand steady. Setters in metro Boston generally land closer to or above the median. Workers in smaller markets — Springfield, Worcester, or the South Shore — may see wages that track closer to the 25th percentile, especially for smaller residential jobs without union or prevailing-wage requirements.

No union scale is currently available for Tile and Stone Setters in Massachusetts in the BLS OEWS May 2025 dataset. That doesn't mean union work doesn't exist in the state — it does — but it means the published data here reflects the full mix of union and non-union workers across all employment settings. Setters working on public projects or large commercial jobs may see rates negotiated through collective bargaining agreements that differ from the figures here.

What drives pay higher in this trade? Specialty material experience is a major factor. Setters who work confidently with large-format porcelain slabs, natural stone like marble or travertine, heated floor systems, or intricate mosaic patterns command more than those doing standard ceramic tile installs. Waterproofing and substrate work — properly installing membranes, backer systems, and crack-isolation layers — is another skill that separates higher earners from entry-level workers. Employers and contractors pay a premium for setters who don't generate callbacks.

Hours matter too. Many tile setters in Massachusetts work a mix of employment situations — some with established tile contractors, others as self-employed tradespeople taking residential jobs directly. Self-employed setters can earn at or above the 75th percentile in strong markets, but they also carry overhead costs: tools, insurance, vehicle, and slow periods between jobs. Hourly rates for self-employed setters often look higher on paper, but the effective annual earnings depend heavily on how full their schedule stays.

For comparison purposes, the full range covered by the BLS data runs from entry-level workers earning below $59,190 to the most experienced specialists in premium markets earning well above $95,940. The data here covers all wage and salary workers plus the self-employed captured in the survey, so it reflects real-world conditions across the state rather than any single employer or project type.

All figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. These are the most current official wage estimates available for this occupation in Massachusetts.