Construction and Extraction · Holland code RCA

Paperhangers

Cover 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.

Also called: Bill Poster, Billposter, Installer, Paper Hanger, Bill Board Poster, Hanger, Vinyl Hanger, Wall Covering Installer.

O*NET 47-2142.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $52,140; Middle half earn $44,890 to $60,180. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 54% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Staple or tack advertising posters onto fences, walls, billboards, or poles.
Measure surfaces or review work orders to estimate the quantities of materials needed.
Place strips or sections of paper on surfaces, aligning section edges and patterns.
Apply sizing to seal surfaces and maximize adhesion of coverings to surfaces.
Smooth strips or sections of paper with brushes or rollers to remove wrinkles and bubbles and to smooth joints.
Set up equipment, such as pasteboards and scaffolds.
Mix paste, using paste powder and water, and brush paste onto surfaces.
Check finished wallcoverings for proper alignment, pattern matching, and neatness of seams.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.0 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Critical Thinking2.9 / 5
Monitoring2.8 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.4 / 5
Writing2.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service3.7 / 5
Building and Construction3.5 / 5
Mathematics3.3 / 5
Mechanical3.0 / 5
Administration and Management3.0 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic81
Investigative0
Artistic33
Social10
Enterprising2
Conventional48

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

paperhanger · DE Tapezierer/Tapeziererin · FR poseur de papiers peints/poseuse de papiers peints
advertising installer · DE Plakatierer/Plakatiererin · FR colleur d'affiche/colleuse d'affiche

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Painters and decorators (5323)86,200 employed
Leisure and theme park attendants (9267)45,900 employed
Parking and civil enforcement occupations (6312)11,800 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Craft and related trades workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Craft and related trades workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,086
Germany	€38,638
Austria	€38,194
Sweden	€37,856
Netherlands	€37,077
Ireland	€36,098
France	€27,145
Italy	€26,488
Spain	€22,817
Portugal	€11,142
Poland	€10,099

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.73. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (47-2142).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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