---
title: "Carpet Installer"
description: "Lay and install carpet from rolls or blocks on floors. Install padding and trim flooring materials."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpet-installer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Carpet Installer

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2041 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2041.00

Lay and install carpet from rolls or blocks on floors. Install padding and trim flooring materials.

Also advertised as: Carpet Flooring Installer; Carpet Layer; Carpet Mechanic; Commercial Floor Covering Installer; Floor Coverer; Floor Covering Installer; Floor Installation Mechanic; Flooring Installer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $50,340 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $24.20/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $35,450 to $82,140, with the middle half between $41,970 and $66,320
- **Total US employment:** 13,780
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -16.4% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 700 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 63/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 13,780 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $35,450 |
| 25th | $41,970 |
| 50th (median) | $50,340 |
| 75th | $66,320 |
| 90th | $82,140 |
| Mean (average) | $56,990 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NJ | $115,180 | $105,859 | 390 |
| MN | $85,910 | $87,111 | Not published by BLS |
| AK | $76,790 | $75,020 | 70 |
| TN | $74,510 | $81,104 | 50 |
| NV | $67,040 | $67,054 | 710 |
| NH | $65,600 | $62,977 | 60 |
| MO | $63,960 | $70,427 | 230 |
| WI | $60,830 | $64,647 | 420 |
| HI | $58,710 | $53,397 | Not published by BLS |
| KS | $57,920 | $64,307 | 70 |
| OR | $57,800 | $55,921 | 520 |
| MD | $57,030 | $54,336 | 250 |
| IA | $55,920 | $63,718 | Not published by BLS |
| VT | $54,830 | $55,973 | 30 |
| WA | $54,830 | $51,237 | 470 |

30 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 45 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpet-installer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/carpet-installer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 17,400 in the 2025–2035 base year to 14,500 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 2,800 jobs, or -16.4%. Declining: -16.4% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 700 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** No formal educational credential (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 69.2% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 22.3% |
| Some College Courses | 7.2% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 1.3% |

## What the work involves

- Cut and trim carpet to fit along wall edges, openings, and projections, finishing the edges with a wall trimmer.
- Roll out, measure, mark, and cut carpeting to size with a carpet knife, following floor sketches and allowing extra carpet for final fitting.
- Inspect the surface to be covered to determine its condition, and correct any imperfections that might show through carpet or cause carpet to wear unevenly.
- Install carpet on some floors using adhesive, following prescribed method.
- Clean up before and after installation, including vacuuming carpet and discarding remnant pieces.
- Plan the layout of the carpet, allowing for expected traffic patterns and placing seams for best appearance and longest wear.
- Move furniture from area to be carpeted and remove old carpet and padding.
- Cut and install vinyl composition tile or vinyl base.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Building and Construction — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk Strength — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Extent Flexibility — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Static Strength — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Visualization — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.50 |
| A — Artistic | 1.94 |
| S — Social | 1.29 |
| I — Investigative | 1.13 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 81.4 |
| ISTP | 72.8 |
| ISFJ | 71.4 |
| ESTJ | 67.2 |
| INTJ | 60.5 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Floor Layer, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles](https://nuecareer.com/careers/floor-layer) — median $56,460
- [Tile and Stone Setter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tile-and-stone-setter) — median $55,690
- [Floor Sander and Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/floor-sander-and-finisher) — median $50,440
- [Insulation Worker, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-floor-ceiling-and-wall) — median $49,120
- [Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer) — median $58,930
- [Furniture Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/furniture-finisher) — median $44,540
- [Paperhanger](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paperhanger) — median $52,140
- [Terrazzo Worker and Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/terrazzo-worker-and-finisher) — median $76,170
- [Insulation Worker, Mechanical](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-mechanical) — median $58,340
- [Upholsterer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/upholsterer) — median $46,340

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/carpet-installer