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California · Drywall Installer / Lather · 9 counties
Drywall Installer / Lather prevailing wage, California Area 1 (9 counties)
DIR sets the same drywall installer or lather rates, row for row, in 9 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.
$110.78an hour, total · Drywall Installer/Lather
$70.26 wage + $40.52 employer payments
On California public works in each of these 9 counties, a drywall installer or lather working as drywall installer/lather must be paid at least $110.78 an hour in total: $70.26 in wages plus $40.52 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $145.91 and Sunday and holiday work is $181.04.
DIR general determination NC-31-X-16-2026-1, issued August 22, 2026. Expires June 30, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.
DIR lists 3 drywall installer or lather rates for each of these counties, from $59.58 to $110.78 an hour. See all of them.
Base wage and fringe: $70.26 + $40.52
The basic hourly rate is the taxable wage. The other lines, usually called fringe benefits, are what DIR expects the employer to pay into health, pension and other plans for each hour worked. An employer can pay part of that as extra wages instead, as long as the total per hour stays at $110.78 or more.
| Basic hourly rate (taxable wage) | $70.26 |
| Health and welfare | $15.87 |
| Pension | $15.70 |
| Vacation and holiday (footnote b) | $6.28 |
| Training | $1.30 |
| Other payments | $1.37 |
| Total straight-time hourly rate | $110.78 |
Straight time covers an 8-hour day.
Davis-Bacon drywall installer or lather rates in these counties
The counties share DIR's rates, but not always the same federal wage determination. When a California awarding body runs a federally funded or assisted project, DIR's rates must be paid where they are higher than the Davis-Bacon rates (DIR public works FAQ).
| County | Federal classification | Base + fringe | WD | vs DIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Contra Costa County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Marin County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Napa County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| San Francisco County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| San Mateo County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Santa Clara County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Solano County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Sonoma County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
Every drywall installer or lather rate in California Area 1
As DIR lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.
- Drywall Installer/Lather$110.78
- Stocker/Scrapper$65.26
- Stocker/Scrapper$59.58
| Classification | Total | Base | Employer payments | Daily OT | Determination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drywall Installer/LatherArea 1 | $110.78 | $70.26 | $40.52 | $145.91 | NC-31-X-16-2026-1 |
| Stocker/ScrapperArea 1 | $65.26 | $35.13 | $30.13 | $82.825 | NC-31-X-16-2026-1 |
| Stocker/ScrapperArea 1 | $59.58 | $35.13 | $24.45 | $77.145 | NC-31-X-16-2026-1 |
How California Area 1 compares
The main drywall installer or lather rate in every county that has one, and how the pay splits here and in the nearest counties. All bars use the same scale.
Every county in California
Wage and employer payments, nearby
- California Area 1base $70.26 · Area 1$110.78
- Santa Cruz Countybase $64.38 · Area 2$104.90
- Alameda Countybase $70.26 · Area 1$110.78
- San Mateo Countybase $70.26 · Area 1$110.78
Which county is in which drywall installer or lather group
Every California county with a drywall installer or lather rate. Counties DIR treats alike share one page; the rest have their own. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.
| Counties | Main classification | Total | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area 1, 9 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma | Drywall Installer/Lather (Area 1) | $110.78 | $70.26 |
| Area 3, 3 counties: Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo | Drywall Installer/Lather (Area 3) | $105.40 | $64.88 |
| El Dorado County* | Drywall Installer/Lather (Area 3) | $105.40 | $64.88 |
| Placer County* | Drywall Installer/Lather (Area 3) | $105.40 | $64.88 |
| Area 2, 3 counties: Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz | Drywall Installer/Lather (Area 2) | $104.90 | $64.38 |
| Area 4, 29 counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yuba | Drywall Installer/Lather (Area 4) | $104.05 | $63.53 |
| Southern California, 11 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura | Drywall Installer/Lather | $84.65 | $54.41 |
| San Diego County | Drywall Installer/Latherer | $78.63 | $47.65 |
5 groups of counties with identical DIR rates, and 3 counties with rates of their own. * County split between areas; its page shows the rate for each part.
California drywall installer or lather prevailing wage by county, with a map
Footnotes on this rate
DIR's footnotes, in DIR's words. Several change the rate itself: zone pay, a percentage added to the total, or which overtime hours get which rate.
- b Includes an amount for Work Fees.
- c Rate applies to the first 4 overtime hours Monday through Friday and the first 8 hours on Saturday. All other time is paid at the Sunday and Holiday overtime rate. Saturdays may be worked at straight time if job is shut down during Monday through Friday due to inclement weather or major mechanical breakdown.
DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.
More from DIR on this rate
- Holidays (DIR PDF)
- Scope of work: which tasks this rate covers
- Travel and subsistence
- Apprentice rates: DIR publishes these separately, by program. Look them up on DIR.
Every trade's rates, county by county: Alameda · Contra Costa · Marin · Napa · San Francisco · San Mateo · Santa Clara · Solano · Sonoma
Are you being paid this rate?
Add your hourly wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $110.78. Plan payments only count if the money goes into the plan; your pay stub won't show them, but plan statements will. The training amount goes to the California Apprenticeship Council or an apprenticeship program, not to you. Check a week of pay.
Contractors on most public works jobs file certified payroll with the state, and anyone can look it up in DIR's CPR public search. If your total comes up short, you can file a public works complaint with the California Labor Commissioner.
Source
California Department of Industrial Relations, general prevailing wage determination NC-31-X-16-2026-1, page 1: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Northern/NC-031-X-16.pdf
Each figure is copied from DIR's file and checked by a second, separate reader. How we check · How to read a determination · Download every California rate as CSV · Report an error