Paperhangers Salary and Pay
How much do Paperhangers make?
Median pay for Paperhangers is $48,260 a year ($23.20); the mean is $51,900. The occupation employed 1,520 people in May 2024, and its middle band runs from $40,930 to $58,470.
What Paperhangers actually pay, from the federal wage survey: a $48,260 median, the full percentile ladder, every state's table, and the metros where the jobs and the money sit, on one page.
Updated November 5, 2026
Salary converter for this occupation
Every level in the picker is a published BLS figure for Paperhangers, not a national average. Annual-to-hourly conversions divide by 2,080 hours, the survey's full-time year; top-coded levels use $239,200, the floor BLS prints, so the true figure is higher.
The national wage ladder (BLS OEWS, May 2024)
| Pay level | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $35,020 | $16.84 |
| 25th percentile | $40,930 | $19.68 |
| Median (50th) | $48,260 | $23.20 |
| 75th percentile | $58,470 | $28.11 |
| 90th percentile | $69,470 | $33.40 |
Percentiles answer the question a single average cannot: where would a given Paperhangers offer sit among all 1,520 workers doing this job? The survey top-codes at $239,200+ and withholds unreliable cells, shown as n/p in the table.
Employment and concentration
May 2024 employment stood at 1,520, or 0.00% of the U.S. total. New York leads the state table with 250 jobs; the top three states sum to 28.9% of the occupation. The concentration measure tells the more interesting story: Oklahoma posts a location quotient of 3.22, so a worker there is far more likely to meet a colleague in this field than the national pattern suggests.
Pay inside the occupation is wide: $34,450 separates the ends of its ladder. The 90th percentile ($69,470) is 2.0 times the 10th percentile ($35,020), a gap of $34,450 a year. The mean of $51,900 sitting above the median of $48,260 tells you the top end pulls the average up: most workers cluster below the mean, and the high tail is thin.
Pay by state
New Jersey posts the highest median annual wage in the state table at $58,240, and New York the largest headcount. The full table, sorted by employment:
| State | Employment | Jobs per 1,000 | Location quotient | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 250 | 0.0 | 2.65 | $60,640 | $56,360 |
| Florida | 110 | 0.0 | 1.13 | $43,050 | $47,060 |
| Wisconsin | 80 | 0.0 | 2.93 | $42,400 | $39,130 |
| Ohio | 70 | 0.0 | 1.27 | $45,910 | $44,740 |
| New Jersey | 60 | 0.0 | 1.43 | $69,890 | $58,240 |
| Michigan | 50 | 0.0 | 1.07 | $47,210 | $47,160 |
| Oklahoma | 50 | 0.0 | 3.22 | $50,380 | $51,810 |
| Pennsylvania | 30 | 0.0 | 0.57 | $53,870 | $56,630 |
| California | n/p | n/p | n/p | $65,440 | $57,330 |
| Colorado | n/p | n/p | n/p | $47,300 | $46,830 |
| North Carolina | n/p | n/p | n/p | $37,040 | $35,740 |
The occupation in context
Ranked against all 826 published occupations, Paperhangers stands number 810 by employment and number 571 by median pay. Inside its own major group, Construction and Extraction Occupations, the group median wage is $54,660 across 60 detailed occupations, so this occupation pays 12% less than its group median, and it supplies 0.0% of the group's 6,361,730 jobs. In 5 of the 11 states with a published median, the state median beats the national median of $48,260, which is the single best quick test of whether this occupation's pay is set nationally or locally: a high count means local markets regularly outbid the national figure.
Metropolitan areas: where the jobs and the pay sit
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is the largest metro employer with 200 jobs, 13.2% of the national total. Employment rank and pay rank are different lists: the second table re-sorts metros with at least 500 jobs in this occupation by mean pay, the floor keeping a handful of workers from posing as a market.
Largest metro employers
| Metropolitan area | Employment | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 200 | $63,800 | $51,510 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | n/p | $56,520 | $48,260 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | n/p | $78,300 | $65,190 |
What the median pay looks like as a budget
Budget arithmetic on the median: $4,022 a month before tax, $1,856 biweekly, $928 weekly. Moving from the 25th percentile ($40,930) to the 75th ($58,470) is worth $17,540 a year, which is the realistic size of the experience and specialization premium inside this occupation. To turn any of these gross figures into spendable money, run them through the paycheck calculator; to weigh an offer against your current role, use the salary calculator; to test a raise against prices, the raise vs inflation calculator.
To place a real offer: a salary of $53,086 would sit between the median ($48,260) and the 75th percentile ($58,470), inside the top half but outside the top quarter of this occupation's ladder. An offer at the 25th percentile, $40,930, is $7,330 under the median, the typical size of the discount attached to entry-level or low-cost-market postings in this field.
Related occupations in Construction and Extraction Occupations
Pay for the neighboring roles in the same BLS major group: Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas, Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators, Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters, Carpet Installers, Continuous Mining Machine Operators, Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers. The full directory is on the Careers hub.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average salary for Paperhangers?
BLS publishes both centers: the mean annual wage is $51,900 and the median is $48,260 (May 2024). The median is usually the better answer to what a typical worker makes, because the mean is pulled by the highest earners.
Where do Paperhangers earn the most?
At state level, New Jersey posts the highest median at $58,240. At metro level, BLS publishes no metro estimates for this occupation.
How many Paperhangers jobs are there?
1,520 nationally in May 2024. The biggest metro employer is New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ with 200 jobs.
Is $48,260 a good salary for Paperhangers?
It is the exact middle of the occupation: half of the 1,520 counted workers earn more, half earn less. Against the occupation's own ladder, an offer above $58,470 is a top-quartile offer and one below $40,930 is a bottom-quartile one.