---
title: "Taper"
description: "Seal joints between plasterboard or other wallboard to prepare wall surface for painting or papering."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/taper"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Taper

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2082 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2082.00

Seal joints between plasterboard or other wallboard to prepare wall surface for painting or papering.

Also advertised as: Drywall Finisher; Drywall Mechanic; Drywall Taper; Finisher; Patch Guy; Patcher; Sheetrock Finisher; Taper Finisher.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $68,270 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $32.82/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $43,670 to $107,110, with the middle half between $52,730 and $88,540
- **Total US employment:** 12,840
- **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:** -1.6% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 900 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 12,840 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $43,670 |
| 25th | $52,730 |
| 50th (median) | $68,270 |
| 75th | $88,540 |
| 90th | $107,110 |
| Mean (average) | $72,710 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IL | $113,180 | $113,228 | 320 |
| HI | $95,490 | $86,848 | 170 |
| PA | $82,240 | $84,286 | 60 |
| WA | $79,040 | $73,860 | 1,550 |
| MN | $78,090 | $79,182 | 220 |
| NY | $77,790 | $72,081 | Not published by BLS |
| KS | $74,120 | $82,293 | 30 |
| OH | $73,840 | $79,591 | 110 |
| CA | $73,460 | $66,348 | 4,540 |
| OR | $71,450 | $69,127 | 500 |
| IA | $66,980 | $76,320 | 100 |
| MA | $65,060 | $61,518 | 510 |
| MI | $63,630 | $66,132 | 190 |
| CT | $63,600 | $61,384 | 80 |
| MO | $63,020 | $69,392 | 220 |

13 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 28 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/taper/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/taper.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 15,800 in the 2025–2035 base year to 15,500 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 300 jobs, or -1.6%. Declining: -1.6% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 900 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.

## What the work involves

- Press paper tape over joints to embed tape into sealing compound and to seal joints.
- Spread sealing compound between boards or panels or over cracks, holes, nail heads, or screw heads, using trowels, broadknives, or spatulas.
- Work on high ceilings, using scaffolding or other tools, such as stilts.
- Mix sealing compounds by hand or with portable electric mixers.
- Sand or patch nicks or cracks in plasterboard or wallboard.
- Seal joints between plasterboard or other wallboard to prepare wall surfaces for painting or papering.
- Use mechanical applicators that spread compounds and embed tape in one operation.
- Apply additional coats to fill in holes and make surfaces smooth.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 1.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 1.9 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.

- Time Management — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 1.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Building and Construction — 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

### Abilities

- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk Strength — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Extent Flexibility — importance 3.1 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 | 6.49 |
| C — Conventional | 3.44 |
| A — Artistic | 1.73 |
| I — Investigative | 1.64 |
| S — Social | 1.45 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.08 |

### 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 | 83.6 |
| ISTP | 74.7 |
| ISFJ | 72.3 |
| ESTJ | 68.1 |
| INTJ | 62.4 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

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

- [Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer) — median $58,930
- [Insulation Worker, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-floor-ceiling-and-wall) — median $49,120
- [Cement Mason and Concrete Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cement-mason-and-concrete-finisher) — median $57,020
- [Plasterer and Stucco Mason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plasterer-and-stucco-mason) — median $57,660
- [Insulation Worker, Mechanical](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-mechanical) — median $58,340
- [Roofer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/roofer) — median $55,440
- [Construction Laborer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-laborer) — median $47,120
- [Brickmason and Blockmason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/brickmason-and-blockmason) — median $62,120
- [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

## 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/taper