---
title: "Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer"
description: "Apply plasterboard or other wallboard to ceilings or interior walls of buildings. Apply or mount acoustical tiles or blocks, strips, or sheets of…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2081 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2081.00

Apply plasterboard or other wallboard to ceilings or interior walls of buildings. Apply or mount acoustical tiles or blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing materials to ceilings and walls of buildings to reduce or reflect sound. Materials may be of decorative quality. Includes lathers who fasten wooden, metal, or rockboard lath to walls, ceilings, or partitions of buildings to provide support base for plaster, fireproofing, or acoustical material.

Also advertised as: Ceiling Installer; Drywall Finisher; Drywall Hanger; Drywall Installer; Drywall Mechanic; Installer; Metal Framer; Metal Stud Framer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $58,930 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $28.33/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $38,460 to $102,010, with the middle half between $47,440 and $74,230
- **Total US employment:** 83,080
- **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:** +2.5% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 6,600 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 56/100 — 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 83,080 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $38,460 |
| 25th | $47,440 |
| 50th (median) | $58,930 |
| 75th | $74,230 |
| 90th | $102,010 |
| Mean (average) | $63,600 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| HI | $104,830 | $95,342 | 800 |
| NJ | $75,080 | $69,004 | 1,340 |
| AK | $73,690 | $71,992 | 100 |
| OR | $73,530 | $71,139 | 1,680 |
| WA | $73,130 | $68,337 | 2,670 |
| MA | $69,500 | $65,717 | 590 |
| CA | $65,880 | $59,501 | 27,280 |
| IL | $63,180 | $63,207 | 740 |
| MO | $62,580 | $68,908 | 550 |
| NH | $61,960 | $59,483 | 370 |
| CO | $61,780 | $59,950 | 1,560 |
| OH | $61,420 | $66,204 | 1,680 |
| MN | $61,290 | $62,147 | 1,050 |
| NY | $61,280 | $56,782 | 2,840 |
| PA | $61,160 | $62,682 | 1,690 |

35 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 50 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 102,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 104,700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 2,500 jobs, or +2.5%. About as fast as average: 2.5% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 6,600 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:** Moderate-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 |
| --- | --- |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 41.9% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 24.4% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 19.3% |
| Some College Courses | 9.7% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 4.8% |

## What the work involves

- Trim rough edges from wallboard to maintain even joints, using knives.
- Measure and cut openings in panels or tiles for electrical outlets, windows, vents, plumbing, or other fixtures, using keyhole saws or other cutting tools.
- Hang drywall panels on metal frameworks of walls and ceilings in offices, schools, or other large buildings, using lifts or hoists to adjust panel heights, when necessary.
- Fit and fasten wallboard or drywall into position on wood or metal frameworks, using glue, nails, or screws.
- Coordinate work with drywall finishers who cover the seams between drywall panels.
- Install horizontal and vertical metal or wooden studs to frames so that wallboard can be attached to interior walls.
- Measure and mark surfaces to lay out work, according to blueprints or drawings, using tape measures, straightedges or squares, and marking devices.
- Read blueprints or other specifications to determine methods of installation, work procedures, or material or tool requirements.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.1 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 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
- Time Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Building and Construction — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — 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
- Near Vision — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Gross Body Equilibrium — importance 3.5 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 | 3.14 |
| A — Artistic | 2.30 |
| I — Investigative | 1.96 |
| S — Social | 1.18 |
| 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 | 81.2 |
| ISTP | 77.1 |
| ISFJ | 67.5 |
| INTJ | 65.7 |
| ESTJ | 63.4 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ, ISTP.

## Related occupations

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

- [Insulation Worker, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-floor-ceiling-and-wall) — median $49,120
- [Taper](https://nuecareer.com/careers/taper) — median $68,270
- [Sheet Metal Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sheet-metal-worker) — median $61,800
- [Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpenter) — median $60,580
- [Plasterer and Stucco Mason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plasterer-and-stucco-mason) — median $57,660
- [Floor Layer, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles](https://nuecareer.com/careers/floor-layer) — median $56,460
- [Roofer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/roofer) — median $55,440
- [Insulation Worker, Mechanical](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-mechanical) — median $58,340
- [Tile and Stone Setter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tile-and-stone-setter) — median $55,690
- [Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/reinforcing-iron-and-rebar-worker) — median $58,970

## 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/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer