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Painter prevailing wage, Kern County group, California (3 counties)

DIR sets the same painter rates, row for row, in 3 counties: Inyo, Kern and Mono. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.

$71.47an hour, total · Industrial Painter

$50.07 wage + $21.40 employer payments

On California public works in each of these 3 counties, a painter working as industrial painter must be paid at least $71.47 an hour in total: $50.07 in wages plus $21.40 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $96.51 and Sunday and holiday work is $121.54.

DIR general determination 200-X-2, issued August 22, 2026. Expires June 30, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.

DIR lists 5 painter rates for each of these counties, from $31.17 to $71.47 an hour. See all of them.

Base wage and fringe: $50.07 + $21.40

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 $71.47 or more.

Basic hourly rate (taxable wage) (footnote L)	$50.07
Health and welfare	$9.20
Pension	$6.29
Vacation and holiday	$3.85
Training	$0.85
Other payments	$1.21
Total straight-time hourly rate	$71.47

Straight time covers an 8-hour day.

Davis-Bacon painter 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
Inyo County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Kern County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match
Mono County	Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match

Scheduled increases

$64.47$67.97$71.47now$74.97Jul 1, 2027

DIR releases since 2024Increases DIR has already set

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
July 1, 2027	+$3.50	$74.97

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	$64.47
2025-1	$64.47	no change
2025-2	$67.97	+$3.50
2026-1	$67.97	no change
2026-2	$71.47	+$3.50

Every painter rate in the Kern County group

As DIR lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.

Industrial Painter$71.47
Painter, Lead Abatement$62.09
Graffiti Removal Worker Journeyman (Applies Only to Paint-Over Method)$40.67
Graffiti Removal Worker 2 (Applies Only to Paint-Over Method)$32.04
Graffiti Removal Worker 1 (Applies Only to Paint-Over Method)$31.17

Total hourly rate of each painter classification in the Kern County group, highest first, split into wage and employer payments.

Classification	Total	Base	Employer payments	Daily OT	Determination
Painter: Graffiti Removal Worker 1 (Applies Only to Paint-Over Method)	$31.17	$20.95	$10.22	$41.65	200-X-3
Painter: Graffiti Removal Worker 2 (Applies Only to Paint-Over Method)	$32.04	$21.82	$10.22	$42.95	200-X-3
Painter: Graffiti Removal Worker Journeyman (Applies Only to Paint-Over Method)	$40.67	$30.45	$10.22	$55.90	200-X-3
Industrial Painter	$71.47	$50.07	$21.40	$96.51	200-X-2
Painter, Lead Abatement	$62.09	$41.23	$20.86	$82.71	200-X-2

How the Kern County group compares

The main painter 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

Kern $71.4742813

$64.14Fresno$88.74San Francisco

KernNearby: Inyo $71.47, Mono $71.47Each column is a group of counties with about the same main rate; its height is how many. 14 counties pay more than Kern, 11 the same, 32 less.

Wage and employer payments, nearby

Kern County groupbase $50.07$71.47
Tulare Countybase $39.65$64.14
Ventura Countybase $50.07$71.47
Los Angeles Countybase $50.07$71.47

Which county is in which painter group

Every California county with a painter 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
San Francisco County	Painter	$88.74	$59.72
Santa Clara County group, 8 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma	Painter	$85.12	$56.10
Monterey County group, 5 counties: Lake, Mendocino, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz	Painter	$85.12	$56.10
Orange County group, 4 counties: Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino	Industrial Painter	$71.47	$50.07
Kern County group, 3 counties: Inyo, Kern, Mono	Industrial Painter	$71.47	$50.07
Ventura County group, 2 counties: San Luis Obispo, Ventura	Industrial Painter	$71.47	$50.07
Los Angeles County	Industrial Painter	$71.47	$50.07
San Diego County	Industrial Painter	$71.47	$50.07
Santa Barbara County	Industrial Painter	$71.47	$50.07
Sacramento County group, 22 counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, Yuba	Painter	$69.68	$45.85
El Dorado County*	Painter	$69.68	$45.85
Lassen County*	Painter	$69.68	$45.85
Nevada County*	Painter	$69.68	$45.85
Placer County*	Painter	$69.68	$45.85
Plumas County*	Painter	$69.68	$45.85
Sierra County*	Painter	$69.68	$45.85
Fresno County group, 4 counties: Fresno, Kings, Madera, Tulare	Painter	$64.14	$39.65

7 groups of counties with identical DIR rates, and 10 counties with rates of their own. * County split between areas; its page shows the rate for each part.

California painter 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.

L Includes amount withheld for working dues.
AB Double time shall be paid for all hours worked over 12 hours in any one day.
AA An additional $3.00 per hour will be added to the basic hourly rate when performing paperhanging work.

DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.

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 $71.47. 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 200-X-2. DIR prints it in one file per county:

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