Paperhangers
Also called: Bill Poster, Billposter, Installer, Paper HangerCover interior walls or ceilings of rooms with decorative wallpaper or fabric, or attach advertising posters on surfaces such as walls and billboards. May remove old materials or prepare surfaces to be papered.
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What the data says: AI couldn't halve the time on any of its 19 tasks, and jobs are projected to grow 4.3% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 6.8% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Painters and paperhangers”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 7.9 hires for every 10 job openings in professional and business services, which employs about 73% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.7.9 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $62,790 | $60,440 to $72,710 | 130 |
| Colorado | $48,180 | $44,800 to $58,550 | 130 |
| Florida | $48,780 | $28,720 to $50,340 | 30 |
| Indiana | $54,810 | $43,340 to $56,590 | 70 |
| Missouri | $59,560 | $52,760 to $63,310 | not published |
| New York | $60,230 | $57,230 to $66,230 | 300 |
| North Carolina | $48,590 | $35,930 to $51,190 | 100 |
| Ohio | $47,830 | $44,510 to $58,900 | 70 |
| Pennsylvania | $61,800 | $49,570 to $63,590 | 30 |
| South Carolina | $46,800 | $42,960 to $57,470 | 50 |
| Tennessee | $46,010 | $43,070 to $48,720 | 40 |
| Washington | $46,270 | $46,260 to $61,270 | not published |
| Wisconsin | $51,500 | $40,100 to $58,220 | not published |
Nationally: $52,140. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on none of its 19 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Place strips or sections of paper on surfaces, aligning section edges and patterns. | Not published |
| Not much | Smooth strips or sections of paper with brushes or rollers to remove wrinkles and bubbles and to smooth joints. | Not published |
| Not much | Measure surfaces or review work orders to estimate the quantities of materials needed. | Not published |
| Not much | Staple or tack advertising posters onto fences, walls, billboards, or poles. | Not published |
| Not much | Apply sizing to seal surfaces and maximize adhesion of coverings to surfaces. | Not published |
| Not much | Check finished wallcoverings for proper alignment, pattern matching, and neatness of seams. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
See all 19 tasks
| Not much | Mix paste, using paste powder and water, and brush paste onto surfaces. | Not published |
| Not much | Set up equipment, such as pasteboards and scaffolds. | Not published |
| Not much | Measure and cut strips from rolls of wallpaper or fabric, using shears or razors. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Smooth rough spots on walls and ceilings, using sandpaper. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Apply adhesives to the backs of paper strips, using brushes, or dunk strips of prepasted wallcovering in water, wiping off any excess adhesive. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Apply thinned glue to waterproof porous surfaces, using brushes, rollers, or pasting machines. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Trim rough edges from strips, using straightedges and trimming knives. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Trim excess material at ceilings or baseboards, using knives. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Fill holes, cracks, and other surface imperfections preparatory to covering surfaces. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Cover interior walls and ceilings of rooms with decorative wallpaper or fabric, using hand tools. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Mark vertical guidelines on walls to align strips, using plumb bobs and chalk lines. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Remove old paper, using water, steam machines, or solvents and scrapers. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
| Not much | Remove paint, varnish, dirt, and grease from surfaces, using paint remover and water soda solutions. O*NET flags this task's ratings as uncertain | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 0 of the 19 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 19 tasks fall under 17 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #8 Read documents or materials to inform work processes
- #17 Implement procedures or processes
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perform general construction or extraction activities | |||
| Apply decorative finishes | |||
| Cut materials | |||
| Read documents or materials to inform work processes | |||
| Implement procedures or processes | |||
| Prepare mixtures or solutions | |||
| Determine resource needs of projects or operations | |||
| Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment |
Show all 17 activities
| Assess characteristics of land or property | |||
| Inspect completed work or finished products | |||
| Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas | |||
| Apply protective solutions or coatings | |||
| Dispose of waste or debris | |||
| Build structures | |||
| Position materials or components for assembly | |||
| Apply materials to fill gaps or imperfections | |||
| Smooth surfaces of objects or equipment |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- Math or a calculation23%
- A document or report17%
- Data or a spreadsheet15%
- A plan or strategy10%
- Advice or a recommendation7%
How they worked with Claude
43% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for paperhangers specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved in from
of 314 moves in
- 1 Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners Low +0.6% 31%
- 2 Food Preparation Workers Low -3.0% 21%
- 3 Stockers and Order Fillers Moderate +8.9% 12%
- 4 Security Guards Moderate +0.9% 9%
- 5 Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education High -0.4% 9%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 24% less than high school
- 54% high school
- 3% postsecondary certificate
- 18% not published
O*NET marks 18% of the answers as too uncertain to publish, so the parts shown don't add up to 100%.
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 26 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 33% less than high school
- 40% high school
- 14% some college
- 5% associate's
- 7% bachelor's
- 1% master's
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Painters and paperhangers” · 4,528 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Painters and paperhangers”
1 program: Painting/Painter and Wall Coverer.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 1 registered apprenticeship in this occupation (PAPERHANGER). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Paperhangers” there.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/47-2142.00