---
title: "Stonemason"
description: "Build stone structures, such as piers, walls, and abutments. Lay walks, curbstones, or special types of masonry for vats, tanks, and floors."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/stonemason"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Stonemason

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2022 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2022.00

Build stone structures, such as piers, walls, and abutments. Lay walks, curbstones, or special types of masonry for vats, tanks, and floors.

Also advertised as: Marble Installer; Marble Shop Worker; Mason; Mason Mechanic; Stone Derrickman; Stone Installer; Stone Mason; Stone Setter.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $57,390 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $27.59/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $39,300 to $86,180, with the middle half between $45,450 and $71,630
- **Total US employment:** 7,820
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -5.4% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 500 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 69/100 — 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 7,820 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $39,300 |
| 25th | $45,450 |
| 50th (median) | $57,390 |
| 75th | $71,630 |
| 90th | $86,180 |
| Mean (average) | $60,710 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WI | $82,740 | $87,932 | 70 |
| NV | $79,600 | $79,617 | 220 |
| WA | $78,010 | $72,898 | 350 |
| MA | $69,610 | $65,821 | Not published by BLS |
| NJ | $66,210 | $60,852 | Not published by BLS |
| VT | $65,950 | $67,325 | 80 |
| RI | $62,510 | $61,117 | Not published by BLS |
| MT | $61,040 | $64,494 | 160 |
| ME | $60,980 | $62,834 | 230 |
| CA | $60,930 | $55,031 | 1,250 |
| MN | $60,510 | $61,356 | Not published by BLS |
| MI | $59,160 | $61,486 | 130 |
| PA | $59,060 | $60,530 | 160 |
| FL | $58,980 | $57,033 | Not published by BLS |
| NH | $57,600 | $55,297 | 40 |

16 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 31 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/stonemason/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/stonemason.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 9,300 in the 2025–2035 base year to 8,800 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 500 jobs, or -5.4%. Declining: -5.4% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 500 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:** High school diploma or equivalent (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:** Apprenticeship.

### 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) | 57.9% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 42.1% |

## What the work involves

- Set stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern.
- Clean excess mortar or grout from surface of marble, stone, or monument, using sponge, brush, water, or acid.
- Mix mortar or grout and pour or spread mortar or grout on marble slabs, stone, or foundation.
- Lay out wall patterns or foundations, using straight edge, rule, or staked lines.
- Remove wedges, fill joints between stones, finish joints between stones, using a trowel, and smooth the mortar to an attractive finish, using a tuck pointer.
- Replace broken or missing masonry units in walls or floors.
- Shape, trim, face and cut marble or stone preparatory to setting, using power saws, cutting equipment, and hand tools.
- Set vertical and horizontal alignment of structures, using plumb bob, gauge line, and level.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.6 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.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Management of Personnel Resources — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Building and Construction — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Static Strength — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk Strength — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.6 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).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.00 |
| A — Artistic | 2.90 |
| I — Investigative | 2.14 |
| S — Social | 1.86 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.29 |

### 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 | 76.9 |
| ISTP | 75.1 |
| ISFJ | 65.7 |
| INTJ | 63.4 |
| ISFP | 62.8 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ, ISTP.

## Related occupations

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

- [Brickmason and Blockmason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/brickmason-and-blockmason) — median $62,120
- [Tile and Stone Setter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tile-and-stone-setter) — median $55,690
- [Stone Cutter and Carver, Manufacturing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stone-cutter-and-carver-manufacturing) — median $46,170
- [Terrazzo Worker and Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/terrazzo-worker-and-finisher) — median $76,170
- [Helpers--Brickmason, Blockmason, Stonemason, and Tile and Marble Setter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-brickmason-blockmason-stonemason-and-tile-and-marble-setter) — median $47,550
- [Cement Mason and Concrete Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cement-mason-and-concrete-finisher) — median $57,020
- [Floor Layer, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles](https://nuecareer.com/careers/floor-layer) — median $56,460
- [Plasterer and Stucco Mason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plasterer-and-stucco-mason) — median $57,660
- [Segmental Paver](https://nuecareer.com/careers/segmental-paver) — median $49,910
- [Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer) — median $58,930

## 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/stonemason