Drywall Installer salary in Utah
| Annual meanBLS OEWS, SOC 47-2081 | $52,720 |
|---|---|
| Hourly equivalentannual ÷ 2080 hours | $25.35 |
| US mean for this trade$30.58/hour | $63,600 |
| Against the national meanUtah pays below average for this trade | -17.1% |
| Rank among states | 30 of 49 |
| Highest-paying state | Hawaii — $96,460 |
| Lowest-paying state | Mississippi — $39,240 |
Notes
- Drywall Installer. Almost entirely piece rate — paid by the board or by the square foot rather than by the hour. A fast hanger out-earns the mean substantially and a slow one falls well below it, which makes the hourly conversion on this page more theoretical than usual.
- Utah sits below the national mean by 17.1%, ranking 30 of 49. The spread across states for this trade runs from $39,240 to $96,460 — a factor of 2.46. That gap is wider than the step between apprentice and journeyman in most states, and it is driven more by union density and prevailing-wage law than by cost of living.
- This is an annual mean, not a median, so a small number of high earners pulls it upward — particularly in states with large industrial or utility employers. It also excludes the self-employed, which understates income in a trade where many experienced workers run their own operation.
- The hourly figure divides by 2,080 hours, the standard 40-hour year. Construction trades commonly work more than that, and overtime is already inside the annual figure, so the true base rate is usually a little lower than the conversion suggests.
The short answer
a drywall installer in Utah earns a mean of $52,720 a year — about $25.35 an hour at 2,080 hours.
That is -17.1% against the national mean of $63,600 for this trade, ranking 30 of 49.
Why states differ this much
The spread for this trade runs from Mississippi ($39,240) to Hawaii ($96,460). That gap is wider than the step between apprentice and journeyman in most states.
Three things drive it, roughly in order of weight:
Union density and prevailing-wage law. The states at the top are largely ones with strong trade unions and legal wage floors on publicly funded work. Private employers compete against that floor, so it lifts the whole state.
Licensing structure. States with a formal apprenticeship ladder and strict hour requirements have a smaller supply of licensed workers per capita.
Construction demand and living costs. These move together and are the weakest of the three — which is why the ranking is not simply a list of expensive states.
What this trade in particular does
Almost entirely piece rate — paid by the board or by the square foot rather than by the hour. A fast hanger out-earns the mean substantially and a slow one falls well below it, which makes the hourly conversion on this page more theoretical than usual.
How to read the number
It is an annual mean, not a median, so a small number of high earners pulls it up — particularly in states with large industrial or utility employers.
It excludes the self-employed. In a trade where many experienced workers run their own operation, the published figure describes employees rather than the trade as a whole.
The hourly conversion divides by 2,080 hours. Construction trades commonly work more, and overtime is already inside the annual figure, so the real base rate usually sits a little below $25.35.
Where the figure comes from
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, SOC 47-2081, annual mean wage. Published annually and free to look up.
Nearby sizes
Read more
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