Headstone Designer Salary
The estimated average salary for headstone designers is between $22,930 and $35,200 per year in 2011, according to online resources, My Majors and Inside Jobs. The publications also advised that such positions are classified under "stone cutters" and "stonemasons" in government employment statistics documents. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics provides detailed salary information for stonemasons, that is fairly consistent with tombstone carving salary reports.
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Broad Statistics
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The median hourly wage for stonemasons in May of 2008 was $19.16, or $39,850 annually, according to BLS. The lowest 10th percentile of workers earned $11.33 hourly, or $23,560 annually, and the highest 10th percentile made $29.50 per hour, or $61,370 annually. The 50 percent median of workers earned $17.87 hourly, or $37,180 per year during the reporting period. These figures indicate, that headstone designers would fall between the 10th and 50th percentile of all stonemasons surveyed.
Industries
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BLS also published salary statistics specific to various industries employing stonemasons. Some fields that would include headstone designers and their reported wages were as follows: other nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing -- $17.91 hourly, or $37,260 per year; other specialty trade contractors -- $18.74 hourly, or $38,980 per year, and other miscellaneous store retailers - $12.24 hourly or $25,450 per year. Each of these industries reported stonemason salaries comparable to those of headstone designers published by Inside Jobs and My Majors.
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Regional Variances
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Where you choose to work also helps determine how much you may expect to earn as a headstone designer. For instance, the lowest paying regions for stonemasons in May of 2010 were non-metropolitan areas of west Arkansas in which workers made $14.12 per hour, or $29,370 annually. During the same period, the highest earnings were reported by workers in Boston, Massachusetts earned more than twice as much; $33.38 per hour, or $69,440 annually.
Occupational Facts
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No formal education or college degree is required to become a headstone designer, according to O-Net Online. However, BLS advises that apprenticeship programs provide the best training and opportunities. You must have great manual dexterity and be capable of lifting and moving heavy objects to succeed in the field. At the time of publication, about 27 percent of stonemasons were self-employed and the overall job outlook was expected to increase by 12 percent between 2008 and 2018.
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References
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Brickmasons, Blockmasons, and Stonemasons
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Stonemasons
- O*Net: Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing
- My Majors: Tombstone Carver Career Information
- My Plan: Stone Cutters & Carvers - Manufacturing - Job Description
- Inside Jobs: Tombstone Carver
Resources
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
