How much does a painter charge per hour in Wisconsin?
Typical painter rate, Wisconsin
$59/hr
Most painters in Wisconsin charge $55 to $71 an hour. A full 8-hour day runs about $472.
Updated October 2026 · Wage data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
How we got $59
| Median painter wage in Wisconsin | $24.08 |
|---|---|
| × 1.4 payroll taxes, workers' comp, insurance | $33.71 |
| ÷ 0.8 for hours nobody gets billed (driving, supply runs, estimates) | $42.14 |
| × 1.4 overhead (truck, tools, office) and profit | $59.00 |
| Typical rate | $59/hr |
What painters earn in Wisconsin
| Pay level | Wage | Charges about |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level (10th percentile) | $18.21 | $45/hr |
| 25th percentile | $22.42 | $55/hr |
| Median (middle) | $24.08 | $59/hr |
| 75th percentile | $28.89 | $71/hr |
| Top earners (90th percentile) | $36.08 | $88/hr |
3,350 painters work in Wisconsin. The middle earner makes $50,090 a year. Wages are from the BLS Painters, Construction and Maintenance category.
How Wisconsin compares
Wisconsin painters earn 1% above the U.S., ranking #23 of 51 states for painter pay (#1 pays the most). The typical U.S. rate is $58 an hour.
| State | Typical | Most charge |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | $72/hr | $57 to $110 |
| Michigan | $60/hr | $53 to $74 |
| Indiana | $59/hr | $51 to $74 |
| Wisconsin | $59/hr | $55 to $71 |
| Ohio | $58/hr | $52 to $73 |
| United States | $58/hr | $53 to $73 |
What drives painter prices
Painters usually quote by the room or by the square foot, but the hourly rate sits under those numbers. Prep (scraping, patching, caulking, masking) is where most of the hours go.
Common questions
How much does a painter charge per hour in Wisconsin?
Most painters in Wisconsin charge between $55 and $71 an hour, and about $59 is typical. A full 8-hour day runs about $472. These are estimates built from what painters earn in Wisconsin (a median of $24.08 an hour, BLS May 2025), not quotes.
Why do painters charge so much more than they earn?
The wage is only part of the cost. On top of $24.08 an hour, the employer pays payroll taxes, workers' comp and insurance (about $33.71 in total), loses paid hours to driving, supply runs and estimates that nobody is billed for (about $42.14 per billed hour), and has to cover the truck, tools, office and a profit. That's how $24.08 becomes about $59.
What's the lowest rate a painter in Wisconsin can charge without losing money?
About $42 an hour for a painter paid the Wisconsin median. That covers pay, payroll taxes, insurance and unbilled time, but nothing for the truck, tools, office or profit, so a rate below it loses money on every hour.
Other trades in Wisconsin
Rates are BidFlow estimates, not quotes. Each starts with the May 2025 wage from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, then multiplies by 1.4 for payroll taxes and insurance, divides by 0.8 for hours that can't be billed, and multiplies by 1.4 for overhead and profit. Updated October 2026. How we calculate
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