Commercial painting recruiters serving Seattle.
Industrial and high-performance coatings for aerospace and infrastructure, plus commercial repaints stay steady. Exterior work compresses into the dry months; interior and coatings work dominates the wet season.
Aerospace and transit, both at scale.
Metro pay for every role we recruit is in the table below. What the hub does name: Boeing's aerospace facility modernization for industrial coatings demand, and Sound Transit's ST3 expansion for infrastructure coatings.
We recruit across the full org chart for commercial painting contractors in Seattle against that documented context.
Two named drivers, two different scopes.
Both named directly in the metro's own data.
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The named driver behind high-performance industrial coatings for aerospace manufacturing facilities.
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The largest transit expansion in the region's history - the named driver behind infrastructure coatings.
What commercial painting roles pay in Seattle.
In the Seattle metro, BLS puts the median for painters, construction and maintenance at $60,440 a year, 22% above the $49,400 national median. Among the 112 metros BLS publishes for this occupation, Seattle ranks 8th on pay. Most of the market sits between $47,400 and $79,280. Of the other field roles, industrial coatings sprayer pays the most locally, at a $63,030 median. BLS does not publish Seattle 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 | Seattle median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial PainterPainters, Construction and Maintenance (47-2141) | $60,440 | $47,400–$79,280 | $49,400 | +22% | 5,140 |
| 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) | $63,030 | $44,790–$115,300 | $48,250 | +31% | 2,640 |
| Painting ForemanFirst-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $121,130 | $77,980–$170,810 | $79,920 | +52% | – |
| EstimatorCost Estimators (13-1051) | $94,490 | $62,020–$152,220 | $78,740 | +20% | – |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Seattle 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 Seattle commercial painting hiring actually plays out in 2026.
Why we name Boeing and Sound Transit ST3 specifically
Both are named directly in the metro's own data as drivers behind aerospace and infrastructure coatings, respectively.
Why Seattle's wet season shapes the work calendar
The hub is explicit: exterior work compresses into the dry months, while interior and coatings work dominates the wet season - a real seasonal split that shapes hiring timing here.
What this means for sourcing
We source against verified aerospace or infrastructure coatings experience for those specialty roles, and plan around Seattle's wet-season work calendar for standard commercial repaint work.
Realistic timelines
Standard commercial painting roles: 4-6 weeks intake to signed offer, adjusted for seasonal work-calendar shifts. First slate of vetted candidates within 48 hours regardless.
The commercial painting positions we fill, most often.
Across all Seattle commercial painting clients, these are the highest-volume roles we've recruited for in the last 24 months.
- High-performance industrial coatings applicator (aerospace)
- Infrastructure coatings applicator (transit/civil)
- Commercial painter
- Commercial painting project manager
For the broader picture across every commercial trade in Seattle, see the Seattle 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 Seattle, plainly.
Same approach we use in every market - but tuned for what works in Seattle's commercial painting segment specifically:
- Same-day intake call. We get the role, the project context, the budget, your dealbreakers. For Seattle painting work, we also confirm whether the role is aerospace, infrastructure, or standard commercial scope.
- Candidate sourcing within 48 hours. We pull from our existing Seattle commercial painting candidate network, filtered for verified aerospace or infrastructure coatings experience where relevant.
- Vetted short list (week one to several weeks). Three to five candidates. We verify real coatings history rather than a line on a resume.
- Offer and close. Standard roles close in 4-6 weeks. We help with offer math against Seattle's documented general context.
Seattle runs 70% 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 Seattle's commercial painting market compares
In 2023 the Seattle metro had 92 nonresidential painting contractors (counted by business location), with about 1,538 people on their payrolls. Average pay at those firms was $66,649, in line with the national average of $67,733 for the same kind of employer. Headcount fell 1.2% over the year, in step with a 1.9% national decline. The number of these employers fell 12.4%, as firms merged, closed or moved out. That works out to 2.3 per 100,000 residents, close to the 2.0 national rate. These firms account for 1.2% of all construction employment in the metro.
Among the 100 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Seattle ranks 6th for headcount, 6th for median pay and 12th for concentration for painters, construction and maintenance. Pay here is among the highest we see, so offers need to start near the top of the range.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 5,140 | $60,440 | 1.70 | 92 |
| Spokane | 700 | $57,050 | 1.90 | 18 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For commercial painting employers in Seattle, the pool is deep but local employers have been cutting headcount. Experienced people are here, and some will be open to a move, so a clear offer and a defined path up usually beat a higher posted rate.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Seattle metro. Employers are counted by business location.
How Seattle's commercial painting market has changed since 2018.
Seattle lost nonresidential painting contractors between 2018 and 2023, from 117 business locations to 92 (down 21%), behind the 4% national decline. Headcount at those firms went down 26%, to about 1,538 people. Average annual pay there went from $55,683 to $66,649 (+20%), slower than the 23% national increase.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential painting contractors: business locations | 117 | 92 | −21% |
| Nonresidential painting contractors: employment | 2,090 | 1,538 | −26% |
| Nonresidential painting contractors: average annual pay | $55,683 | $66,649 | +20% |
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 Seattle.
What are Seattle's named painting demand centers?
Boeing's $1.5B+ regional aerospace facility modernization for high-performance industrial coatings, and Sound Transit's $54B ST3 light-rail expansion for infrastructure coatings - both named directly in the metro's own data.
Is commercial painting work seasonal in Seattle?
Yes, but not the way most markets split it. The metro's own data reports exterior work compressed into the dry months, while interior and coatings work dominates the wet season.
What do painters, construction and maintenance earn in Seattle?
BLS puts the Seattle median for painters, construction and maintenance at $60,440 a year, 22% above the $49,400 national median. That ranks 8th of 112 metros with published figures, in the top quarter. Most of the market sits between $47,400 and $79,280, a 1.7x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience. No other Washington metro we cover pays more for this work (Spokane: $57,050).
Is it hard to hire painters, construction and maintenance in Seattle?
Not by national standards. Painters, construction and maintenance make up 70% more of the Seattle workforce than they do nationally, about 5,140 people. The 92 nonresidential painting contractors here average about 17 employees per location. There are 21% fewer of those firms than in 2018, so experienced people have fewer local employers to move between.
Which commercial painting roles pay the most in Seattle?
Of the roles we recruit for, Painting Foreman pays the most in Seattle, a $121,130 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Industrial Coatings Sprayer at $63,030, 48% below it. Commercial Painter is the lowest-paid field role at $60,440. Relative to national pay, Painting Foreman is the strongest-paying role here (52% above).
How many nonresidential painting contractors operate in Seattle?
BLS counted 92 nonresidential painting contractors in Seattle in 2023, employing about 1,538 people between them. Down from 117 in 2018, a 21% decline against 4% decline nationally. That averages 17 people per location. They pay about the national average of $67,733.
Which nearby metros compete with Seattle for painters, construction and maintenance?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Portland (145 miles, about 3,540, $53,280 median) and Spokane (228 miles, about 700, $57,050 median). Seattle out-pays Portland and Spokane, an advantage when recruiting from there.
We have not closed a commercial painting search in Seattle yet. Here is what we have closed.
These are other trades in the same market. We would rather show you the searches we have actually run in Seattle than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- Service Operations CoordinatorA lead dispatcher used to 20-25 technicians and 75 calls a day, placed in eight days.
- Commercial SuperintendentTwenty-five years of ground-up commercial leadership, placed in two weeks.
- Construction SuperintendentTenant-improvement and renovation leadership, including prevailing-wage public work.
Hiring commercial painting talent in Seattle?
Tell us the role. We'll tell you timeline and where we'd source the candidate - in under 30 minutes.