Pick a trade and state to see real hourly rates.
Current BLS California employee wages for Painters, Construction and Maintenance, SOC 47-2141; employee wages exclude premium pay and benefits.
Last updated October 21, 2026. Rates are market estimates, not guarantees.
Hiring guide · California
Assess preparation skills, safe coating work and required lead credentials.
Hire for the surfaces and coating system your project uses. Ask candidates to explain preparation, masking, application and cleanup in sequence. In California, separate employee hiring from C-33 subcontracting and identify regulated lead work early. This guide connects recruitment routes with practical screening and employee wage comparisons.
Candidate availability moves week to week. What does not move is the screening: the certifications below are what decide whether someone can be badged onto your site at all.
The levels are separated by what the state allows a person to do unsupervised, not by how good they are. Hiring the wrong level is the most common and most expensive mistake on a trade requisition.
Productive under supervision and cheap, but they cannot be left on a task the state licenses, and they need someone qualified with them.
Works unsupervised and can carry a helper. This is the level almost every requisition is actually describing.
Runs crews across sites, owns compliance outcomes, and where the trade allows, pulls permits and qualifies the work.
Budget $28.38 an hour for a qualified painter in California, from $20.26 at entry level to $43.75 at the top. Add a quarter to a third on top for payroll taxes, insurance and equipment, and price overtime at time and a half.
See the full painter salary guide →California licensing applies at $1,000, or with permits or employees. C-33 covers painting contractors. Employers handle classification, workers' compensation and safety. Covered older-building renovation also needs EPA lead-safe firm arrangements.
Contact Cerritos apprenticeship staff, Tri-Valley Career Center employer services and CAL INC's training office about recruitment inquiries.
Certificates get a candidate past the first filter. These are the questions that separate the ones who can do the work from the ones who have the paperwork, and they change by level.
Certifications listed with no issuing body or date
A licence described as 'in progress'
No supervisor anyone can call
Three or four employers inside a year
Long gaps with no explanation offered
Cards that lapsed and were never renewed
A realistic schedule for a certified painter, from writing the requisition to a badged start. The screening steps are where time is actually lost.
Budget California painting roles by duties and access. These national figures describe sector employees.
Occupied remodeling calls for careful masking and communication. Screen candidates on protecting household surfaces while keeping work areas contained and orderly.
Building handovers bring coordinated painting deadlines. Ask candidates how they sequence coating work with nearby trades and document areas needing touchups.
Painting subcontractors need consistent preparation across changing sites. Assess substrate knowledge, spray technique and cleanup habits against your actual coating specifications.
Post a role and reach OSHA-certified candidates in your area.
© 2026 American Recruits
