Insulation Workers, Mechanical salary

SOC 47-2132 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$58,340

per year, nationally

Middle half

$48,100–$77,360

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

25,660

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.7%

2,300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$42,470$100,220

10th: $42,470
25th: $48,100
Median: $58,340
75th: $77,360
90th: $100,220

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Apprenticeship

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where insulation workers, mechanical earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$119,690	110.7	1,310	0.43×
2	Oregon	$119,480	103.4	170	0.53×
3	Nevada	$114,130	100.0	250	0.97×
4	New Jersey	$107,610	108.8	330	0.47×
5	Minnesota	$105,670	98.6	250	0.51×
6	Illinois	$100,400	100.0	1,100	1.10×
7	Washington	$92,120	107.0	500	0.85×
8	Hawaii	$87,570	110.0	—	—
9	Wisconsin	$85,120	94.1	600	1.24×
10	Alaska	$84,410	102.4	40	0.72×
11	Pennsylvania	$80,770	97.6	590	0.59×
12	Arizona	$80,410	100.7	—	—
13	Missouri	$78,660	90.8	830	1.70×
14	Rhode Island	$77,150	102.3	60	0.69×
15	Nebraska	$75,940	90.1	130	0.76×
16	West Virginia	$74,200	89.5	90	0.81×
17	Indiana	$72,220	93.3	1,320	2.50×
18	Maryland	$70,030	105.0	450	0.98×
19	Ohio	$67,600	92.8	990	1.08×
20	Massachusetts	$64,710	105.8	560	0.94×
21	Maine	$63,580	97.0	400	3.75×
22	Oklahoma	$61,840	87.8	250	0.90×
23	New York	$59,120	107.9	1,490	0.93×
24	Michigan	$58,860	96.2	650	0.90×
25	North Dakota	$58,140	89.0	400	5.65×
26	Virginia	$57,010	101.1	1,350	1.99×
27	Utah	$55,990	98.9	380	1.31×
28	Iowa	$54,440	87.8	140	0.55×
29	New Mexico	$53,120	92.2	—	—
30	Georgia	$52,600	96.3	660	0.81×
31	Arkansas	$51,390	86.9	130	0.61×
32	South Carolina	$50,440	93.7	630	1.65×
33	Mississippi	$50,180	87.0	120	0.65×
34	Florida	$49,660	103.4	480	0.29×
35	Kansas	$49,050	90.1	130	0.54×
36	Colorado	$49,050	103.1	520	1.09×
37	Alabama	$48,930	88.8	—	—
38	Texas	$48,930	97.1	4,190	1.80×
39	North Carolina	$48,430	94.3	1,090	1.33×
40	Louisiana	$48,280	88.2	620	1.95×
41	Wyoming	$48,190	92.7	540	11.72×
42	Tennessee	$46,380	91.9	670	1.23×
43	Kentucky	$46,150	90.2	—	—
44	Delaware	$44,850	99.8	340	4.31×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where insulation workers, mechanical wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for insulation workers, mechanical

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$136,460	115.6	210	0.54×
2	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$126,750	105.4	120	0.59×
3	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$124,090	113.6	530	0.51×
4	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$121,870	100.2	190	1.03×
5	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$112,280	111.9	100	0.40×
6	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$109,360	104.8	90	0.28×
7	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$103,690	103.6	930	1.25×
8	St. Cloud, MN	$100,520	87.6	80	4.65×
9	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$93,960	106.7	90	0.49×
10	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$92,680	100.1	60	2.78×
11	Madison, WI	$91,470	97.3	50	0.80×
12	Reno, NV	$89,600	101.0	40	0.93×
13	Urban Honolulu, HI	$87,570	111.0	60	0.85×
14	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$86,310	96.9	200	1.45×
15	Appleton, WI	$85,580	92.4	60	2.80×
16	Anchorage, AK	$84,410	105.4	30	1.12×
17	Syracuse, NY	$82,950	95.7	100	2.00×
18	Lansing-East Lansing, MI	$81,340	95.0	30	0.90×
19	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$80,410	103.3	—	—
20	Pittsburgh, PA	$80,050	94.7	60	0.32×
21	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$79,470	93.6	40	0.90×
22	St. Louis, MO-IL	$79,240	95.1	560	2.54×
23	Omaha, NE-IA	$79,060	91.9	70	0.91×
24	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$78,350	105.6	180	11.89×
25	Columbus, OH	$76,590	95.5	230	1.27×
26	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$75,910	95.4	250	1.38×
27	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$75,490	101.8	80	0.72×
28	Tulsa, OK	$75,030	89.2	130	1.77×
29	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$74,840	95.7	520	2.84×
30	Toledo, OH	$74,580	91.5	50	1.02×
31	Oklahoma City, OK	$74,490	90.4	60	0.55×
32	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$70,690	112.6	1,100	0.70×
33	Kansas City, MO-KS	$69,730	92.5	240	1.33×
34	Cleveland, OH	$69,690	93.9	150	0.85×
35	Akron, OH	$63,660	93.4	30	0.58×
36	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$63,630	108.9	370	0.72×
37	Portland-South Portland, ME	$63,580	101.9	300	6.34×
38	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$61,660	102.6	520	1.08×
39	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$59,740	99.6	80	1.03×
40	Bismarck, ND	$58,480	91.0	60	4.77×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where insulation workers, mechanical wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Construction Laborers$47,120
Electricians$63,190
Carpenters$60,580
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$59,850
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$63,800
Painters, Construction and Maintenance$49,400
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers$57,020
Roofers$55,440