How much do tile & stone setters make in North Carolina in 2026?

Tile and stone setters in North Carolina earn a median wage of $44,650 per year, which works out to roughly $21.47 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's the midpoint — half of workers in this trade earn more, half earn less. If you're just starting out or working for a smaller residential contractor, you're more likely to land in the lower half. If you've got years of experience, commercial project credits, or specialized stone work under your belt, the upper half is within reach.

The 25th percentile sits at $39,560 a year, or about $19.02 an hour. Workers at this level are often newer to the trade, working entry-level positions, or employed in lower-wage regions of the state. It's a starting point, not a ceiling, but it's worth knowing what the floor looks like before you accept an offer.

At the 75th percentile, pay climbs to $50,660 annually — around $24.36 an hour. Setters in this range typically bring a combination of experience, a broader skill set (natural stone, large-format tile, waterproofing systems, epoxy grouts), and a track record on commercial or high-end residential jobs. That gap between the 25th and 75th percentile — just over $11,000 a year — shows that where you land in this trade depends heavily on what you can do and who you're doing it for.

North Carolina's construction market is heavily active in the Charlotte metro, the Research Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill), and increasingly in the Triad (Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point). Tile and stone setters working on commercial builds, hotel renovations, or large multifamily projects in these areas tend to see pay closer to the upper end of the range. Rural areas and smaller residential remodeling outfits typically pay toward the lower end.

No union scale data is available for this trade in North Carolina. The state operates largely as an open-shop market for this occupation, meaning pay is set by the employer rather than a collective bargaining agreement. That puts more weight on your ability to negotiate directly based on your skills and the specific project type.

Overtime is common in this trade, especially during busy construction seasons in the spring and fall. At the median base rate of $21.47 an hour, a single week of 10 hours of overtime adds roughly $322 to your paycheck (1.5x rate on the OT hours). Workers who consistently land jobs with overtime built into the schedule can meaningfully push their annual take-home well above the stated percentile figures.

If you're thinking about where to position yourself in this range, focus on two things: material diversity and project scale. Setters who can handle large-format porcelain, natural marble and slate, mosaic work, and exterior stone installations are harder to replace. Setters who've worked on commercial or institutional projects — hospitals, hotels, schools — carry credentials that smaller-scope residential work doesn't provide. Either path can move you from the 25th to the 75th percentile faster than time alone.

All figures on this page come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025.