Best degree programs for Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 264 schools train Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $48,250 median wage, 158,740 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 264 schools train coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders, graduating 5,352 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Autobody/Collision and Repair Technology/Technician. The job pays a median of $48,250 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About 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.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 47.0603 | 5,352 | 100.0% | 264 | $37,089 | $11,790 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | $46,750 | 16,600 | 1.16× | 18 | 569 |
| North Carolina | $46,730 | 5,700 | 1.13× | 17 | 450 |
| Oklahoma | $45,780 | 2,520 | 1.45× | 18 | 409 |
| California | $52,950 | 11,570 | 0.62× | 22 | 406 |
| Illinois | $48,000 | 6,390 | 1.03× | 7 | 290 |
| Tennessee | $47,210 | 3,880 | 1.16× | 14 | 264 |
| Colorado | $53,590 | 1,470 | 0.50× | 7 | 180 |
| Georgia | $46,450 | 5,900 | 1.18× | 12 | 173 |
| Florida | $47,860 | 6,200 | 0.61× | 18 | 170 |
| Washington | $59,980 | 3,980 | 1.10× | 7 | 169 |
| Nebraska | $49,340 | 740 | 0.70× | 6 | 156 |
| Minnesota | $52,210 | 3,430 | 1.14× | 10 | 153 |
| Pennsylvania | $48,340 | 6,790 | 1.10× | 8 | 118 |
| Wyominglimited | $50,220 | 220 | 0.77× | 2 | 113 |
| Alabamamoderate | $44,250 | 5,250 | 2.43× | 3 | 108 |
| Arkansas | $46,380 | 1,870 | 1.41× | 6 | 103 |
| Iowa | $49,330 | 3,220 | 2.02× | 7 | 93 |
| Mississippi | $53,170 | 2,010 | 1.70× | 7 | 90 |
| Arizonamoderate | $47,860 | 2,440 | 0.74× | 4 | 87 |
| Kansas | $47,120 | 3,160 | 2.15× | 9 | 86 |
| Indianamoderate | $47,320 | 8,030 | 2.46× | 3 | 75 |
| Wisconsin | $49,170 | 6,120 | 2.04× | 7 | 75 |
| Kentuckymoderate | $47,170 | 2,190 | 1.07× | 3 | 69 |
| Missouri | $47,580 | 3,860 | 1.29× | 5 | 68 |
| Idaho | $45,810 | 760 | 0.87× | 5 | 61 |
| New York | $48,000 | 3,270 | 0.33× | 5 | 55 |
| New Jerseylimited | $58,240 | 2,890 | 0.66× | 2 | 54 |
| Oregonmoderate | $49,400 | 2,470 | 1.23× | 3 | 50 |
| Nevadalimited | $45,750 | 640 | 0.40× | 2 | 45 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $48,220 | 2,780 | 1.18× | 3 | 41 |
| Utahmoderate | $47,880 | 1,740 | 0.98× | 3 | 41 |
| Connecticutlimited | $52,900 | 1,550 | 0.90× | 1 | 39 |
| South Dakotalimited | $47,980 | 1,150 | 2.47× | 2 | 36 |
| Ohiolimited | $48,550 | 8,320 | 1.47× | 1 | 35 |
| New Mexicolimited | $45,730 | 400 | 0.45× | 2 | 23 |
| North Dakotalimited | $51,020 | 560 | 1.28× | 2 | 22 |
| Michiganmoderate | $44,670 | 7,050 | 1.57× | 3 | 21 |
| Virginialimited | $49,880 | 4,130 | 0.98× | 1 | 19 |
| Hawaiilimited | $51,990 | 230 | 0.35× | 1 | 12 |
| Louisianalimited | $47,950 | 810 | 0.41× | 1 | 11 |
| Mainelimited | $56,200 | 680 | 1.05× | 1 | 8 |
| New Hampshirelimited | $48,410 | 430 | 0.62× | 1 | 7 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $49,850 | 470 | 0.91× | 1 | 7 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Dispose of hazardous waste in an appropriate manner.
- Hold or position spray guns to direct spray onto articles.
- Spray prepared surfaces with specified amounts of primers and decorative or finish coatings.
- 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.
- Fill hoppers, reservoirs, troughs, or pans with material used to coat, paint, or spray, using conveyors or pails.
- Clean equipment and work areas.
- Apply rust-resistant undercoats and caulk and seal seams.
Skills
- Monitoring3.1
- Critical Thinking2.8
- Reading Comprehension2.6
- Active Listening2.6
- Learning Strategies2.6
- Speaking2.6
- Active Learning2.5
- Writing2.3
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical3.0
- English Language2.6
- Production and Processing2.6
- Education and Training2.2
- Chemistry2.1
- Customer and Personal Service2.0
Abilities
- Near Vision3.9
- Visual Color Discrimination3.8
- Control Precision3.8
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.8
- Manual Dexterity3.6
- Finger Dexterity3.3
Core activities
- Getting Information4.3
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.2
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.2
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.0
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems3.7
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards3.7
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Coating
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 47.0603Autobody/Collision and Repair Technology/Technician
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Coating?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Autobody/Collision and Repair Technology/Technician, which awarded 5,352 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Coating?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 5,352 people a year.
How much do coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders earn?+
The median is $48,250 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $36,260 at the 10th percentile to $74,730 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders growing?+
BLS projects a +0.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 15,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
264 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Painter, Coater Operator, Paint Technician (Paint Tech), Automotive Painter (Auto Painter) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-9124.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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