---
title: "Terrazzo Worker and Finisher"
description: "Apply a mixture of cement, sand, pigment, or marble chips to floors, stairways, and cabinet fixtures to fashion durable and decorative surfaces."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/terrazzo-worker-and-finisher"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Terrazzo Worker and Finisher

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2053 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2053.00

Apply a mixture of cement, sand, pigment, or marble chips to floors, stairways, and cabinet fixtures to fashion durable and decorative surfaces.

Also advertised as: Grinder; Installer; Terrazzo Finisher; Terrazzo Grinder; Terrazzo Installer; Terrazzo Journeyman; Terrazzo Laborer; Terrazzo Mechanic.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $76,170 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $36.62/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $46,090 to $126,130, with the middle half between $54,830 and $114,780
- **Total US employment:** 1,180
- **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:** -13.0% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 67/100 — 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 1,180 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $46,090 |
| 25th | $54,830 |
| 50th (median) | $76,170 |
| 75th | $114,780 |
| 90th | $126,130 |
| Mean (average) | $84,920 |

### Pay by state

The 7 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NY | $123,820 | $114,732 | Not published by BLS |
| IL | $107,190 | $107,235 | Not published by BLS |
| MI | $72,450 | $75,299 | Not published by BLS |
| WI | $57,930 | $61,565 | Not published by BLS |
| NJ | $57,550 | $52,893 | 100 |
| FL | $49,500 | $47,866 | Not published by BLS |
| CA | $41,430 | $37,419 | Not published by BLS |

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 1,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 1,000 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 200 jobs, or -13.0%. Declining: -13.0% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 100 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) | 69.9% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 14.2% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 9.6% |
| Some College Courses | 6.4% |

## What the work involves

- Measure designated amounts of ingredients for terrazzo or grout, according to standard formulas and specifications, using graduated containers and scales, and load ingredients into portable mixer.
- Wet surface to prepare for bonding, fill holes and cracks with grout or slurry, and smooth with a trowel.
- Cut metal division strips and press them into the terrazzo base for joints or changes of color to form designs or patterns or to help prevent cracks.
- Wash polished terrazzo surface, using cleaner and water, and apply sealer and curing agent according to manufacturer's specifications, using brush or sprayer.
- Clean installation site, mixing and storage areas, tools, machines, and equipment, and store materials and equipment.
- Position and secure moisture membrane and wire mesh in preparation for pouring base materials for terrazzo installation.
- Modify mixing, grouting, grinding, or cleaning procedures, according to type of installation or material used.
- Move terrazzo installation materials, tools, machines, or work devices to work areas, manually or using wheelbarrow.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Speaking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.1 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 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- 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
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Building and Construction — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk 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
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Finger Dexterity — 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 | 3.28 |
| A — Artistic | 1.93 |
| I — Investigative | 1.80 |
| S — Social | 1.00 |
| 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 | 83.1 |
| ISTP | 77.0 |
| ISFJ | 69.1 |
| ESTJ | 66.0 |
| INTJ | 65.4 |

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.

- [Tile and Stone Setter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tile-and-stone-setter) — median $55,690
- [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
- [Floor Layer, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles](https://nuecareer.com/careers/floor-layer) — median $56,460
- [Cement Mason and Concrete Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cement-mason-and-concrete-finisher) — median $57,020
- [Stonemason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stonemason) — median $57,390
- [Brickmason and Blockmason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/brickmason-and-blockmason) — median $62,120
- [Stone Cutter and Carver, Manufacturing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stone-cutter-and-carver-manufacturing) — median $46,170
- [Floor Sander and Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/floor-sander-and-finisher) — median $50,440
- [Molder, Shaper, and Caster, Except Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/molder-shaper-and-caster) — median $46,170
- [Furniture Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/furniture-finisher) — median $44,540

## 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

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