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Boston Career Explorer

Production

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

Paint, coat, or decorate articles, such as furniture, glass, plateware, pottery, jewelry, toys, books, or leather.

Also called: Decaler, Decorator, Glass Decorator, Glazer, In Mold Coater, Painter

Median pay in Greater Boston
$57,000
$27.40/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
70
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+2.3%
30 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
No formal educational credential
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$44,550$47,880$57,000$61,570$66,560

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Apply coatings, such as paint, ink, or lacquer, to protect or decorate workpiece surfaces, using spray guns, pens, or brushes.
  • Examine finished surfaces of workpieces to verify conformance to specifications and retouch any defective areas.
  • Clean and maintain tools and equipment, using solvents, brushes, and rags.
  • Read job orders and inspect workpieces to determine work procedures and materials required.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure15 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 18
  • Language-model AIOE 19
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 8

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. The core work is hands-on: applying paint, ink, or lacquer with spray guns, pens, or brushes, and cleaning tools and equipment. AI tools may help a little with reading job orders and working out materials, but they do not do the painting or touch-up work.

Likely to change

  • Reading job orders and planning materials
  • Checking finished surfaces against specifications

Still relies on people

  • Applying coatings by hand or spray gun
  • Retouching flaws and cleaning tools

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Painters, Construction and Maintenance

    You already apply coatings and read job orders. This job moves that work to buildings and offers 5.5% projected Massachusetts growth, with no formal credential.

    Pay difference
    +$820 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +5.5%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

  • Roofers

    Roofers spray or paint waterproof coatings onto surfaces, which builds on your coating skills. Projected Massachusetts growth is 7.7%, and no formal credential is needed.

    Pay difference
    +$9,350 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +7.7%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

  • Automotive Body and Related Repairers

    Your eye for finished surfaces and paint quality carries over to sanding, smoothing, and checking paint jobs on vehicles.

    Pay difference
    +$2,630 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +3.3%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

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