Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers · SOC 47-2081

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installerss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for drywall and ceiling tile installers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 169 metro areas

Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Urban Honolulu, HI	$105,910	710	1.6
2	Napa, CA	$84,410	50	0.6
3	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$83,190	60	0.8
4	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$82,650	700	3.4
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$82,160	2,510	1.1
6	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$81,100	1,100	0.9
7	Worcester, MA	$80,280	120	0.3
8	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$79,430	1,960	1.7
9	El Centro, CA	$78,020	90	1.4
10	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$76,290	3,220	2.1
11	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$75,560	1,840	0.9
12	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$74,740	120	1.2
13	Salinas, CA	$73,650	160	0.9
14	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$73,520	450	1.5
15	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$71,320	2,560	0.3
16	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$69,120	540	0.1
17	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$67,730	70	1.4
18	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$67,060	180	1.5
19	Akron, OH	$66,450	30	0.1
20	Modesto, CA	$65,770	400	2.0
21	Columbus, OH	$65,450	570	0.5
22	Anchorage, AK	$65,200	60	0.3
23	Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH	$64,700	60	0.4
24	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$64,370	440	2.2
25	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$64,260	1,110	0.7

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.