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Career overview · SOC 51-9124

Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

Set up, operate, or tend spraying or rolling machines to coat or paint any of a wide variety of products, including glassware, cloth, ceramics, metal, plastic, paper, or wood, with lacquer, silver, copper, rubber, varnish, glaze, enamel, oil, or rust-proofing materials. Includes painters of transportation vehicles such as painters in auto body repair facilities.

Also called: Automotive Painter (Auto Painter) · Automotive Refinish Technician (Auto Refinish Tech) · Coater Operator · Hand Sprayer · Industrial Painter · Paint Technician (Paint Tech)

Median pay (national)
$47,590
$35,480–$72,800 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
159,500
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+0.7%
~15,800 openings/yr
Typical entry
High school diploma or equivalent

What the numbers say

Refit analysis ·Pay for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders shows a broad range: the top 10% earn $72,800 versus $35,480 at the bottom 10% — 2.1x. The median of $47,590 leaves roughly 53% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +0.7% from 2024 to 2034 — slower than the 3% all-occupation average. Even so, BLS projects about 15,800 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 51 states with released data, Alaska pays the most for this role (median $63,440, +33% vs the national median), while Puerto Rico sits lowest at $22,580 — a 181% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list.

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Top skills employers ask for

Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.

  • Monitoring
  • Critical Thinking
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
  • Learning Strategies
  • Active Learning
  • Writing
  • Mathematics
  • Science

What they actually do

Core O*NET tasks for this role.

  • Dispose of hazardous waste in an appropriate manner.
  • Use brush to hand-paint areas in need of retouching or unreachable with a spray gun.
  • Monitor painting operations to identify flaws, such as blisters or streaks, and correct their causes.
  • Disassemble, clean, and reassemble sprayers or power equipment, using solvents, wire brushes, and cloths.
  • Clean equipment and work areas.
  • Buff and wax the finished paintwork.
  • Spray prepared surfaces with specified amounts of primers and decorative or finish coatings.
  • Apply rust-resistant undercoats and caulk and seal seams.
  • Start and stop operation of machines, using levers or buttons.
  • Turn dials, handwheels, valves, or switches to regulate conveyor speeds, machine temperature, air pressure and circulation, and the flow or spray of coatings or paints.

Tools & technology

  • Inventory control software
  • Inventory management systems
  • Maintenance management software
  • Materials requirement planning MRP software
  • Robotic painting software
  • Scheduling software
  • Time recording software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft Word

Knowledge areas

  • Mechanical
  • English Language
  • Production and Processing
  • Education and Training
  • Chemistry
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Computers and Electronics