Home / California / Orange County / Tile Setter
Orange County · Tile Setter
Tile Setter prevailing wage in Orange County, California
$79.13an hour, total · Tile Layer
$56.52 wage + $22.61 employer payments
Orange County uses the same tile setter rates as 11 other counties. See all of them on one page.
On California public works in Orange County, a tile setter working as tile layer must be paid at least $79.13 an hour in total: $56.52 in wages plus $22.61 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $107.39 and Sunday and holiday work is $135.65.
DIR general determination 162-18-1, issued August 22, 2026. Expires May 31, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.
Base wage and fringe: $56.52 + $22.61
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 $79.13 or more.
| Basic hourly rate (taxable wage) (footnote W) | $56.52 |
| Health and welfare | $9.50 |
| Pension | $10.85 |
| Training | $1.59 |
| Other payments | $0.67 |
| Total straight-time hourly rate | $79.13 |
Straight time covers an 8-hour day.
Davis-Bacon tile setter rate in Orange County
Federally funded or assisted construction here uses the U.S. Department of Labor's wage determinations. 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).
For building, highway and heavy work, the matching Davis-Bacon classification is TILE LAYER at $71.14 ($51.82 base + $19.32 fringe), from CA20260024 modification 4, published July 14, 2026, rate BRCA0018-004. Against DIR's $79.13: DIR's rate is $7.99 an hour higher. On a job covered by both, the higher rate applies.
| Construction | Federal classification | Base + fringe | Base | WD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building, Highway, Heavy | TILE LAYERBRCA0018-004 | $71.14 | $51.82 | CA20260024 Mod 4 |
| Residential | TILE LAYER (IMPERIAL, LOS ANGELES, ORANGE, RIVERSIDE, SAN BERNARDINO & VENTURA)BRCA0018-003 | $77.52 | $56.52 | CA20260017 Mod 5 |
Davis-Bacon rates from SAM.gov, read October 25, 2026. Our federal totals are base plus fringe; DOL prints no total. California Davis-Bacon changes
Scheduled increases
DIR has already set these increases. Work on or after each date is paid the higher rate. DIR often leaves part of an increase "to be allocated to wages and/or employer payments" and confirms the split when it comes due, and it can reduce a scheduled increase in a later notice, so check DIR's increase page before you pay it.
| Takes effect | Increase per hour | Total after increase |
|---|---|---|
| June 1, 2027 | +$3.54 | $82.67 |
| June 1, 2028 | +$3.54 | $86.21 |
The double asterisk after DIR's expiration date means the next rate is already set. If the work runs past that date you have to pay the new rate, and DIR says to build it into contracts signed now (DIR FAQ, Q8).
Rate history since 2024
Total hourly rate for this classification in each DIR release. The chart under Scheduled increases above draws the same figures with the increases that follow.
| Release | Total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-2 | $71.81 | |
| 2025-1 | $71.81 | no change |
| 2025-2 | $75.59 | +$3.78 |
| 2026-1 | $75.59 | no change |
| 2026-2 | $79.13 | +$3.54 |
How Orange County compares
The main tile setter 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
- Orange Countybase $56.52$79.13
- Los Angeles Countybase $56.52$79.13
- San Diego Countybase $56.52$79.13
- Tulare Countybase $51.09$79.38
Tile Setter rates in nearby counties
Current DIR rates. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.
DIR's tile setter rates for Orange County are the same as in 11 other counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and 3 more. The closest county with a different rate is Tulare County, at $79.38.
| County | Classification | Total | Base | vs Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County | Tile Layer | $79.13 | $56.52 | |
| Los Angeles County | Tile Layer | $79.13 | $56.52 | same |
| San Diego County | Tile Layer | $79.13 | $56.52 | same |
| Ventura County | Tile Layer | $79.13 | $56.52 | same |
| Riverside County | Tile Layer | $79.13 | $56.52 | same |
| San Bernardino County | Tile Layer | $79.13 | $56.52 | same |
| Kern County | Tile Layer | $79.13 | $56.52 | same |
California tile setter 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.
- W Includes amount withheld for administrative dues.
- X Rate applies to first two daily overtime hours worked; all other overtime is paid at the holiday overtime hourly rate.
- Y Saturday overtime hourly rate shall not be owed for work performed on a Saturday unless and until the employee has worked 8 hours on that day or 40 hours over the course of the work week of which the Saturday is a part, whichever comes first. Rate applies to the first 8 hours worked on a sixth or seventh consecutive day during any one calendar week up to 50 hours in any one calendar week. All hours in excess of 10 hours daily or 50 hours weekly are paid at the holiday rate. Saturdays in the same work week may be worked at straight-time if job is shut down during the normal workweek due to inclement weather.
- Z Rate applies to work on holidays only; sundays are paid at the Saturday overtime hourly rate.
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.
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 $79.13. 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 162-18-1: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/ORA.html
Each figure is copied from DIR's file and checked by a second, separate reader. How we check · How to read a determination · Download Orange County as CSV · Report an error