Tile and Stone Setters
Apply hard tile, stone, and comparable materials to walls, floors, ceilings, countertops, and roof decks.
35,850 people do this job in the US. $55,690 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 4%
- 0%
- 96%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 4%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lay and set mosaic tiles to create decorative wall, mural, and floor designs.Done daily by most who do it. | 16% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Cut, surface, polish, and install marble and granite or install pre-cast terrazzo, granite or marble units.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare surfaces for tiling by attaching lath or waterproof paper, or by applying a cement mortar coat to a metal screen.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Mix, apply, and spread plaster, concrete, mortar, cement, mastic, glue or other adhesives to form a bed for the tiles, using brush, trowel and screed.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine and implement the best layout to achieve a desired pattern.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Align and straighten tile using levels, squares, and straightedges.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Finish and dress the joints and wipe excess grout from between tiles, using damp sponge.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 33 min17 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Cut and shape tile to fit around obstacles and into odd spaces and corners, using hand and power cutting tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Spread mastic or other adhesive base on roof deck to form base for promenade tile, using serrated spreader.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min21 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Measure and mark surfaces to be tiled, following blueprints.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 33 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Study blueprints and examine surface to be covered to determine amount of material needed.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Level concrete and allow to dry.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles3% now, 3% by 2028
- Terrazzo Workers and Finishers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Stonemasons0% now, 0% by 2028
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters6% now, 6% by 2028
- Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing5% now, 5% by 2028
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons12% now, 13% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).