How To Become A Body Painter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a body painter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a body painter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.49 an hour? That's $38,459 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 2,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBody PainterUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,459

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 3.50%

Black or African American 12.57%

Hispanic or Latino 21.86%

Unknown 3.93%

White 57.59%

Gender

female 9.58%

male 90.42%

Age - 41.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41.5

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.4

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a body painter

Explore body painter education requirements

Most common body painter degrees

High School Diploma

42.0 %

Associate

17.9 %

Diploma

17.3 %

Start to develop specific body painter skills

Skills	Percentages
Refinish	21.58%
Quality Products	14.64%
Coats	12.46%
Painting Equipment	9.71%
Mask	8.71%

Complete relevant body painter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New body painters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a body painter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real body painter resumes.

Research body painter duties and responsibilities

Paint and/or refinish repair areas on vehicle to achieve a better than factory finish.
Mask area and vehicles prior to spraying.
Paint animal molds with base coats for artists.
Experience in working with forced-air breathing apparatus and respirators.

Prepare your body painter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your body painter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a body painter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable body painter resume templates

Build a professional body painter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your body painter resume.