Boilermaker career
BLS occupation: Boilermakers (47-2011). Updated September 27, 2026.
Pay
Boilermakers in the U.S. earn a median of $76,410 a year, or $36.74 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data.
What boilermakers do
- Conduct pressure tests on vessels, such as boilers.
- Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.
- Examine boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, or vats to locate defects, such as leaks, weak spots, or defective sections, so that they can be repaired.
- Inspect assembled vessels or individual components, such as tubes, fittings, valves, controls, or auxiliary mechanisms, to locate any defects.
- Lay out plate, sheet steel, or other heavy metal and locate and mark bending and cutting lines, using protractors, compasses, and drawing instruments or templates.
- Bell, bead with power hammers, or weld pressure vessel tube ends to ensure leakproof joints.
- Locate and mark reference points for columns or plates on boiler foundations, following blueprints and using straightedges, squares, transits, or measuring instruments.
- Shape or fabricate parts, such as stacks, uptakes, or chutes, to adapt pressure vessels, heat exchangers, or piping to premises, using heavy-metalworking machines such as brakes, rolls, or drill presses.
The most important tasks, as rated by workers in the occupation. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 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.
Job outlook
BLS projects boilermaker jobs will shrink 1.8% from 2025 to 2035, slower than the 3.5% for all U.S. jobs, with about 700 openings a year as people join, retire, and change careers.
- Jobs in 2025
- 10,200
- Projected for 2035
- 10,100
- Openings a year
- 700
- Self-employed
- not published
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–2035. Job counts include self-employed workers.
Training
- Typical education to start
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Experience in a related job
- None
- Typical on-the-job training
- Apprenticeship
Source: BLS Employment Projections. Licensing rules vary by state; confirm with your state's licensing board.
Pay in your state
- California$118,150
- Mississippi$105,910
- New Mexico$101,200
- Illinois$99,730
- Michigan$98,220
- Wisconsin$97,590
- Minnesota$96,190
- Washington$95,200
- Indiana$91,410
- Colorado$89,350
See all 50 states and DC
- Idaho$88,400
- Pennsylvania$86,850
- Ohio$85,550
- New Hampshire$85,470
- New York$84,770
- Iowa$82,470
- New Jersey$82,410
- Connecticut$80,360
- Missouri$78,550
- Arizona$77,940
- Wyoming$77,900
- Oklahoma$77,750
- Arkansas$76,810
- Texas$75,750
- South Carolina$74,840
- Kentucky$74,810
- Louisiana$73,980
- Kansas$72,170
- Florida$69,790
- Virginia$67,540
- Georgia$64,200
- West Virginia$63,850
- Alabama$63,570
- Nevada$61,430
- Tennessee$51,810
- North Carolina$49,720
- Maryland$42,250
Top-paying metro areas
- San Francisco–Oakland–FremontCA$135,290
- Los Angeles–Long Beach–AnaheimCA$110,370
- Chicago–Naperville–ElginIL-IN$109,640
- PittsburghPA$91,420
- Philadelphia–Camden–WilmingtonPA-NJ-DE-MD$86,910
- New York–Newark–Jersey CityNY-NJ$82,420
- New Orleans–MetairieLA$77,290
- Houston–Pasadena–The WoodlandsTX$77,090
- Baton RougeLA$74,730
- Beaumont–Port ArthurTX$73,060
Other trades
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Excludes self-employed boilermakers.