Boilermakers — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
$76,410
United States, 2025
Employment
10,190
United States, 2025
Typical education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
Job Zone 2
Skills identified
35
10 related careers
Career overview
Construct, assemble, maintain, and repair stationary steam boilers and boiler house auxiliaries. Align structures or plate sections to assemble boiler frame tanks or vats, following blueprints. Work involves use of hand and power tools, plumb bobs, levels, wedges, dogs, or turnbuckles. Assist in testing assembled vessels. Direct cleaning of boilers and boiler furnaces. Inspect and repair boiler fittings, such as safety valves, regulators, automatic-control mechanisms, water columns, and auxiliary machines.
- O*NET code
- 47-2011.00
- Job zone
- 2
- Experience required
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years
Typical tasks
- 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.
Choose a location
Salary analysis — United States
10th percentile
$50,490
25th percentile
$64,760
75th percentile
$95,430
90th percentile
$110,370
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring4.0
- Operation and Control3.8
- Critical Thinking3.5
- Quality Control Analysis3.1
- Repairing3.1
- Troubleshooting3.1
- Equipment Maintenance3.1
- Time Management3.0
- Complex Problem Solving3.0
- Equipment Selection3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Judgment and Decision Making3.0
What skills do you need?
Select the skills you already have
Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.
Skill coverage
0%
0 of 16 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
16
Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.
Skills to develop
| Skill | Importance | Required level | Your level | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operation and Control | 3.8 | 3.9 | Not selected | 3.9 |
| Operations Monitoring | 4.0 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.5 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Repairing | 3.1 | 3.3 | Not selected | 3.3 |
| Troubleshooting | 3.1 | 3.3 | Not selected | 3.3 |
| Equipment Maintenance | 3.1 | 3.3 | Not selected | 3.3 |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.1 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.0 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Time Management | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Equipment Selection | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Speaking | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Active Learning | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Active Listening | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Monitoring | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
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Compare with BoilermakersHow salary varies by location
| Location | Median | Employment | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | $135,290 | 50 | 2025 |
| CA | $118,150 | 720 | 2025 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $110,370 | 320 | 2025 |
| Chicago, IL | $109,640 | 90 | 2025 |
| Toledo, OH | $107,780 | 40 | 2025 |
| Buffalo, NY | $106,790 | — | 2025 |
| MS | $105,910 | 280 | 2025 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $105,430 | — | 2025 |
| Farmington, NM | $101,250 | — | 2025 |
| NM | $101,200 | 300 | 2025 |
| Detroit, MI | $100,110 | — | 2025 |
| IL | $99,730 | 110 | 2025 |
| MI | $98,220 | — | 2025 |
| WI | $97,590 | 170 | 2025 |
| MN | $96,190 | 140 | 2025 |
| WA | $95,200 | 190 | 2025 |
| St. Louis, MO | $94,640 | 40 | 2025 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $91,420 | 100 | 2025 |
| IN | $91,410 | 170 | 2025 |
| Cleveland, OH | $90,980 | 30 | 2025 |
Career transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Boilermakers to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.
Build a transition comparisonCareer and skills data: O*NET 31.0.
Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).
Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.