Carpet Installers
Lay and install carpet from rolls or blocks on floors. Install padding and trim flooring materials.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Carpet Installers. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $35,450 | $17.05 |
| 25th | $41,970 | $20.18 |
| 50th · Median | $50,340 | $24.20 |
| 75th | $66,320 | $31.89 |
| 90th | $82,140 | $39.49 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (6)
Typical tasks
- Plan the layout of the carpet, allowing for expected traffic patterns and placing seams for best appearance and longest wear.
- Join edges of carpet and seam edges where necessary, by sewing or by using tape with glue and heated carpet iron.
- Cut carpet padding to size and install padding, following prescribed method.
- Cut and trim carpet to fit along wall edges, openings, and projections, finishing the edges with a wall trimmer.
- Stretch carpet to align with walls and ensure a smooth surface, and press carpet in place over tack strips or use staples, tape, tacks or glue to hold carpet in place.
- Roll out, measure, mark, and cut carpeting to size with a carpet knife, following floor sketches and allowing extra carpet for final fitting.
Expand more tasks (11)
- Nail tack strips around area to be carpeted or use old strips to attach edges of new carpet.
- Inspect the surface to be covered to determine its condition, and correct any imperfections that might show through carpet or cause carpet to wear unevenly.
- Take measurements and study floor sketches to calculate the area to be carpeted and the amount of material needed.
- Install carpet on some floors using adhesive, following prescribed method.
- Clean up before and after installation, including vacuuming carpet and discarding remnant pieces.
- Draw building diagrams and record dimensions.
- Cut and install vinyl composition tile or vinyl base.
- Fasten metal treads across door openings or where carpet meets flooring to hold carpet in place.
- Move furniture from area to be carpeted and remove old carpet and padding.
- Measure, cut and install tackless strips along the baseboard or wall.
- Cut and bind material.
Skills used in this work
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Expand more skills (29)
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
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