Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters salary

SOC 51-2041 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$51,330

per year, nationally

Middle half

$45,610–$61,250

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

52,360

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-16.3%

4,100 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.

$37,960$72,280

10th: $37,960
25th: $45,610
Median: $51,330
75th: $61,250
90th: $72,280

Getting in

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

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

Where structural metal fabricators and fitters 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	Maine	$64,760	97.0	770	3.58×
2	Alaska	$63,420	102.4	70	0.62×
3	Oregon	$62,220	103.4	560	0.85×
4	Massachusetts	$62,040	105.8	690	0.56×
5	Washington	$61,850	107.0	1,050	0.88×
6	Indiana	$60,180	93.3	3,870	3.59×
7	Connecticut	$58,760	103.6	500	0.87×
8	Idaho	$58,140	95.5	320	1.11×
9	California	$57,590	110.7	3,420	0.56×
10	Wisconsin	$56,310	94.1	1,810	1.83×
11	Minnesota	$56,210	98.6	640	0.65×
12	New Jersey	$55,650	108.8	1,540	1.07×
13	Illinois	$55,380	100.0	1,910	0.93×
14	Kentucky	$55,250	90.2	450	0.67×
15	New York	$55,080	107.9	2,040	0.62×
16	North Dakota	$54,430	89.0	140	1.00×
17	Virginia	$53,940	101.1	1,220	0.88×
18	New Hampshire	$53,920	104.2	100	0.45×
19	Missouri	$53,610	90.8	550	0.56×
20	Ohio	$52,300	92.8	1,090	0.58×
21	Alabama	$52,220	88.8	2,130	3.00×
22	Wyoming	$51,740	92.7	60	0.62×
23	Pennsylvania	$51,640	97.6	1,690	0.83×
24	Iowa	$51,360	87.8	650	1.23×
25	Colorado	$51,120	103.1	330	0.35×
26	South Dakota	$50,800	88.6	180	1.20×
27	Tennessee	$50,460	91.9	2,260	2.05×
28	Oklahoma	$50,380	87.8	710	1.24×
29	Maryland	$50,110	105.0	620	0.67×
30	Georgia	$50,010	96.3	560	0.34×
31	Louisiana	$49,120	88.2	2,520	3.86×
32	North Carolina	$48,990	94.3	1,070	0.64×
33	Nebraska	$48,820	90.1	580	1.67×
34	New Mexico	$48,700	92.2	240	0.82×
35	Texas	$48,490	97.1	4,440	0.94×
36	Arizona	$48,150	100.7	940	0.86×
37	Utah	$48,130	98.9	780	1.34×
38	Michigan	$47,950	96.2	1,270	0.85×
39	Kansas	$47,840	90.1	620	1.28×
40	Delaware	$46,940	99.8	110	0.66×
41	South Carolina	$46,910	93.7	1,020	1.31×
42	Florida	$46,880	103.4	2,950	0.88×
43	West Virginia	$46,880	89.5	180	0.75×
44	Hawaii	$43,750	110.0	60	0.29×
45	Mississippi	$42,550	87.0	700	1.78×
46	Arkansas	$41,260	86.9	640	1.46×
47	Nevada	$39,570	100.0	150	0.29×

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 structural metal fabricators and fitters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for structural metal fabricators and fitters

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	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$75,570	105.6	30	1.04×
2	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$68,350	111.9	690	1.33×
3	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$68,280	103.6	2,290	1.51×
4	Mobile, AL	$66,820	88.1	780	13.40×
5	Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA	$66,110	86.4	70	1.79×
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$65,980	111.1	520	0.74×
7	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	$65,850	89.1	60	1.01×
8	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$65,500	115.6	230	0.29×
9	Albany, OR	$65,420	102.1	50	3.36×
10	Portland-South Portland, ME	$64,760	101.9	590	6.10×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$64,350	108.3	440	0.48×
12	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$64,230	105.4	420	1.03×
13	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$63,920	102.4	50	2.80×
14	Savannah, GA	$63,420	95.2	30	0.45×
15	Evansville, IN	$63,120	91.5	230	5.04×
16	Utica-Rome, NY	$62,910	92.7	50	1.18×
17	Salem, OR	$62,090	103.6	60	0.91×
18	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$61,910	99.8	90	1.58×
19	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$60,950	100.3	130	1.46×
20	Green Bay, WI	$60,930	93.1	170	2.96×
21	St. Cloud, MN	$60,460	87.6	110	3.18×
22	Kalamazoo-Portage, MI	$60,200	94.8	50	1.22×
23	Fort Wayne, IN	$60,180	92.6	200	2.66×
24	Worcester, MA	$60,050	102.5	90	0.74×
25	Idaho Falls, ID	$59,960	94.4	70	2.45×
26	Corpus Christi, TX	$59,590	92.7	50	0.84×
27	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$59,470	91.7	100	0.75×
28	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$59,460	105.1	90	0.91×
29	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$59,270	90.6	110	1.81×
30	New Haven, CT	$58,760	104.6	130	1.41×
31	Kansas City, MO-KS	$58,540	92.5	120	0.33×
32	Jackson, TN	$58,490	85.5	80	2.88×
33	Madison, WI	$58,490	97.3	390	2.85×
34	Baton Rouge, LA	$58,410	90.8	770	5.58×
35	Vallejo, CA	$58,360	108.5	40	0.85×
36	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$58,260	104.8	310	0.48×
37	Wausau, WI	$58,220	92.7	80	3.54×
38	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$58,020	108.9	390	0.37×
39	Ogden, UT	$57,980	100.3	100	1.05×
40	Syracuse, NY	$57,700	95.7	100	0.99×

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 structural metal fabricators and fitters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where structural metal fabricators and fitters earn the most

Best paying metro areas for structural metal fabricators and fitters

Similar occupations

Compare