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Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons pay in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons is $52,000 per year in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ. It is $38,380 per year in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is 35.5% above Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 47-3014 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists Not published wage and salary jobs in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ and 80 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.