Tile and Stone Setters
What Tile and Stone Setters Do
Apply hard tile, stone, and comparable materials to walls, floors, ceilings, countertops, and roof decks.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 25.7%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 2 of 5Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Job training
- Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Building and Constructionimportance 4.0/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.4/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.0/5
- Designimportance 3.0/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 2.6/5
- Mechanicalimportance 2.6/5
- English Languageimportance 2.5/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 2.5/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets4.9/5
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls4.9/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.5/5
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.5/5
- Spend Time Kneeling, Crouching, Stooping, or Crawling4.5/5
- Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions4.4/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Carpet Installers96% skill match
- Terrazzo Workers and Finishers94% skill match
- Stonemasons93% skill match
- Carpenters93% skill match
- Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters93% skill match
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons93% skill match
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters93% skill match
- Upholsterers92% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Coordinationimportance 3.0/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.0/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.8/5
- Instructingimportance 2.6/5
- Service Orientationimportance 2.6/5
- Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.6/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.5/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- Aya Associates Comp-U-Floor
- EasyCAD Iris 2D
- Measure Square FloorEstimate Pro
- TileGem
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Cautiousness
- Perseverance
- Achievement Orientation
- Stress Tolerance
- Integrity
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- ArtisticLow
- InvestigativeLow
- SocialLow
- EnterprisingLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where tile and stone setters make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Naples-Marco Island, FL9.00× national avg
- 2St. George, UT6.42× national avg
- 3Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA6.01× national avg
- 4Reno, NV5.73× national avg
- 5Salt Lake City-Murray, UT5.11× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Terrazzo Workers and FinishersLateral Move
- StonemasonsLateral Move
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble SettersLateral Move
- Drywall and Ceiling Tile InstallersLateral Move
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.