Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand vs Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers: Similar Pay, -19.2% vs 1.3% Growth

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand vs Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers: what changes?

Consider Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand if you want to grind, sand, or polish, using hand tools or hand-held power tools, a variety of metal, wood, stone, clay, plastic, or glass objects. Consider Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers if you would rather paint, coat, or decorate articles, such as furniture, glass, plateware, pottery, jewelry, toys, books, or leather. Both list no formal educational credential; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand and Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

National median pay (2025): $42,660
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Verify quality of finished workpieces by inspecting them, comparing them to templates, measuring their dimensions, or testing them in working machinery.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 700

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 19.2% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand brief

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

National median pay (2025): $41,600
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Apply coatings, such as paint, ink, or lacquer, to protect or decorate workpiece surfaces, using spray guns, pens, or brushes.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 700

Know before you choose

This is a small national occupation (8,200 jobs in 2025), so location and employer concentration can matter more than the national median suggests.

See the full Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers brief

How the national numbers differ

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers has the edge on projected growth

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers is at 1.3% projected growth, compared with -19.2% projected growth for Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand.

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand has the edge on median pay

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand is at $42,660, compared with $41,600 for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers.

20.4/ 100

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

28.6/ 100

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand vs Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

Dimension	Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand	Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
Median pay (2025)	$42,660	$41,600
Pay percentile	14.6 percentile	13.3 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-19.2%	1.3%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	700	700
2025 employment	10,800	8,200
How you qualify	No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand brief Read Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers brief

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand vs Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

How the national numbers differ

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers has the edge on projected growth

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand has the edge on median pay

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand vs Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

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