Commercial painting recruiters serving Jacksonville.
Marine and structural coatings for BAE's ship-repair work require certified industrial applicators. Conventional commercial repaint demand is steady and adequately supplied.
A ship-repair yard, upgrading.
Metro pay for every role we recruit is in the table below. What the hub does name: BAE Systems' facility upgrade as the driver of marine and structural coatings demand.
We recruit across the full org chart for commercial painting contractors in Jacksonville against that documented context.
A multi-year ship-repair upgrade.
One named driver, ongoing.
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Upgrade to BAE's Jacksonville ship-repair capacity - the named driver behind marine and structural coatings for naval and commercial vessel repair.
What commercial painting roles pay in Jacksonville.
In the Jacksonville metro, BLS puts the median for painters, construction and maintenance at $48,030 a year, in line with the $49,400 national median. Among the 112 metros BLS publishes for this occupation, Jacksonville ranks 60th on pay. Most of the market sits between $37,290 and $58,760. Of the other field roles, industrial coatings sprayer pays the most locally, at a $47,590 median. BLS does not publish Jacksonville pay for painter helper, which it withholds where a metro's sample is too small to be reliable. National benchmarks by role are in the 2026 Commercial Painting Salary Guide.
| Role | Jacksonville median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial PainterPainters, Construction and Maintenance (47-2141) | $48,030 | $37,290–$58,760 | $49,400 | −3% | 1,420 |
| Painter HelperHelpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons (47-3014) | – | – | $40,470 | – | – |
| Industrial Coatings SprayerCoating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders (51-9124) | $47,590 | $35,590–$66,680 | $48,250 | −1% | 480 |
| Painting ForemanFirst-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $77,760 | $51,490–$104,800 | $79,920 | −3% | – |
| EstimatorCost Estimators (13-1051) | $69,090 | $44,430–$122,480 | $78,740 | −12% | – |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Jacksonville metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile. Headcount is shown for field occupations only; management, estimating and supervisory codes are counted across every industry in the metro.
What candidates expect. What credentials matter. What kills offers.
We don't tell prospective clients who their competitors are hiring - that's a discipline our clients value, and we'll honor it on a call. What we will share publicly: how Jacksonville commercial painting hiring actually plays out in 2026.
Why we name the BAE Systems upgrade specifically
The metro's own data ties marine and structural coatings directly to BAE's ship-repair facility upgrade, a multi-year sustained program.
Why certified industrial applicators are the credential that matters here
The hub is explicit: this work requires certified industrial applicators - a specific, verifiable credential for marine/structural coatings on naval and commercial vessels.
What this means for sourcing
We source against verified marine/structural coatings experience for ship-repair-adjacent roles, and standard commercial experience for conventional repaint work, which the metro reports as adequately supplied.
Realistic timelines
Standard commercial painting roles: 4-6 weeks intake to signed offer. Certified marine coatings specialty roles run longer given the smaller qualified pool. First slate of vetted candidates within 48 hours regardless.
The commercial painting positions we fill, most often.
Across all Jacksonville commercial painting clients, these are the highest-volume roles we've recruited for in the last 24 months.
- Marine coatings applicator (ship-repair)
- Structural coatings applicator (industrial certified)
- Commercial painter
- Commercial painting project manager
For the broader picture across every commercial trade in Jacksonville, see the Jacksonville metro overview. To learn more about commercial painting generally (across all 100+ markets we serve), see our Commercial Painting industry page.
How we recruit commercial painting in Jacksonville, plainly.
Same approach we use in every market - but tuned for what works in Jacksonville's commercial painting segment specifically:
- Same-day intake call. We get the role, the project context, the budget, your dealbreakers. For Jacksonville painting work, we also confirm whether certified marine coatings experience is required.
- Candidate sourcing within 48 hours. We pull from our existing Jacksonville commercial painting candidate network, filtered for verified marine/structural coatings experience where relevant.
- Vetted short list (week one to several weeks). Three to five candidates. We verify real certifications and project history rather than a line on a resume.
- Offer and close. Standard roles close in 4-6 weeks; certified marine specialty roles can run longer. We help with offer math against Jacksonville's documented general context.
Jacksonville runs 28% more commercial painting workers per job than the country as a whole — well above the national concentration. More per job means more people to reach, and more employers reaching them.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 , Painters, Construction and Maintenance. Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Jacksonville's commercial painting market compares
In 2023 the Jacksonville metro had 35 nonresidential painting contractors (counted by business location), with about 361 people on their payrolls. Average pay at those firms was $59,233, 12.5% below the national average of $67,733 for the same kind of employer. Headcount grew 3.1% over the year against a national decline of 1.9%. That works out to 2.1 per 100,000 residents, close to the 2.0 national rate. These firms account for 0.7% of all construction employment in the metro.
Among the 100 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Jacksonville ranks 30th for headcount, 55th for median pay and 32nd for concentration for painters, construction and maintenance.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami | 6,210 | $48,490 | 1.52 | 105 |
| Tampa | 3,080 | $47,570 | 1.47 | 74 |
| Orlando | 2,840 | $45,210 | 1.39 | 81 |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers | 1,520 | $46,840 | 3.45 | 17 |
| Jacksonville | 1,420 | $48,030 | 1.28 | 35 |
| North Port-Sarasota | 1,040 | $48,470 | 2.12 | 19 |
| Port St. Lucie | 550 | $47,740 | 2.23 | 9 |
| Lakeland | 510 | $46,320 | 1.33 | 12 |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne | 460 | $49,100 | 1.30 | 12 |
| Deltona-Daytona | 450 | $46,440 | 1.41 | 16 |
| Pensacola | 420 | $45,950 | 1.53 | 10 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For commercial painting employers in Jacksonville, the pool is deep and still growing, so the constraint is competition rather than supply. Move fast on good candidates, because another local firm is probably talking to them too.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Jacksonville metro. Employers are counted by business location.
How Jacksonville's commercial painting market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential painting contractors in Jacksonville rose from 28 in 2018 to 35 in 2023, up 25%, ahead of the 4% national decline. Headcount at those firms went up 30%, to about 361 people. Average annual pay there went from $44,576 to $59,233 (+33%), faster than the 23% national increase, a sign employers here have had to bid up.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential painting contractors: business locations | 28 | 35 | +25% |
| Nonresidential painting contractors: employment | 277 | 361 | +30% |
| Nonresidential painting contractors: average annual pay | $44,576 | $59,233 | +33% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Frequently asked — commercial painting hiring in Jacksonville.
What is Jacksonville's named marine coatings demand center?
BAE Systems' $200M ship-repair facility upgrade, a multi-year program - named directly in the metro's own data as the driver of marine and structural coatings work.
Why does certified marine coatings experience matter in Jacksonville?
The metro's own data names it directly: BAE's ship-repair work requires certified industrial applicators for marine and structural coatings.
What do painters, construction and maintenance earn in Jacksonville?
BLS puts the Jacksonville median for painters, construction and maintenance at $48,030 a year, about the same as the $49,400 national median. That ranks 60th of 112 metros with published figures, in the middle of the pack. Pay is bunched together here, $37,290 to $58,760 across the 10th to 90th percentile and only a 1.6x gap, so small differences in an offer are noticed. No other Florida metro we cover pays more for this work.
Is it hard to hire painters, construction and maintenance in Jacksonville?
Not by national standards. Painters, construction and maintenance make up 28% more of the Jacksonville workforce than they do nationally, about 1,420 people. The 35 nonresidential painting contractors here average about 10 employees per location. With 25% more of those firms than in 2018, more employers are competing for the same crews.
Which commercial painting roles pay the most in Jacksonville?
Of the roles we recruit for, Painting Foreman pays the most in Jacksonville, a $77,760 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Commercial Painter at $48,030, 38% below it. Industrial Coatings Sprayer is the lowest-paid field role at $47,590. Estimator trails national pay the most (12% below).
How many nonresidential painting contractors operate in Jacksonville?
BLS counted 35 nonresidential painting contractors in Jacksonville in 2023, employing about 361 people between them. Up from 28 in 2018, a 25% increase against 4% decline nationally. That averages 10 people per location. They pay an average of $59,233, 13% below the $67,733 national average for the same kind of employer.
Which nearby metros compete with Jacksonville for painters, construction and maintenance?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Deltona-Daytona (102 miles, about 450, $46,440 median), Orlando (125 miles, about 2,840, $45,210 median) and Lakeland (159 miles, about 510, $46,320 median). Orlando has the larger pool, so it is the first place to look for senior people willing to move. Jacksonville out-pays Orlando, an advantage when recruiting from there.
Hiring commercial painting talent in Jacksonville?
Tell us the role. We'll tell you timeline and where we'd source the candidate - in under 30 minutes.