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Sheet Metal Workers Career, Salary and Skills

Sheet Metal Workers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $61,800 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 119,770. Wage data is published for 327 locations.

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Occupation description

Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.

O*NET code

47-2211.00

Job zone

2

Typical education

High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)

Experience

None

National salary and employment

Median annual

$61,800

Hourly median

$29.71

Employment

119,770

Data year

2025

National salary distribution

$38,630
10th
$47,830
25th
$61,800
Median
$81,610
75th
$105,650
90th

Top skills

SkillImportanceLevel
Reading Comprehension3.122.75
Critical Thinking3.123.00
Monitoring3.122.88
Coordination3.123.12
Active Listening3.002.88
Time Management3.003.00
Mathematics3.003.12
Speaking3.002.88
Judgment and Decision Making3.002.88
Instructing2.882.75
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Typical tasks

  • Fabricate ducts for high efficiency heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to maximize efficiency of systems.
  • Fasten seams or joints together with welds, bolts, cement, rivets, solder, caulks, metal drive clips, or bonds to assemble components into products or to repair sheet metal items.
  • Transport prefabricated parts to construction sites for assembly and installation.
  • Install assemblies, such as flashing, pipes, tubes, heating and air conditioning ducts, furnace casings, rain gutters, or downspouts in supportive frameworks.
  • Hire, train, or supervise new employees or apprentices.
  • Lay out, measure, and mark dimensions and reference lines on material, such as roofing panels, using calculators, scribes, dividers, squares, or rulers.
  • Fabricate or alter parts at construction sites, using shears, hammers, punches, or drills.
  • Maintain equipment, making repairs or modifications when necessary.
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Technology

  • Applied Production ProFab
  • Applied Production ProFold
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Corte Certo
  • FCC Software AutoPOL Series
  • JETCAM Expert
  • Merry Mechanization SMP/IS
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Microsoft Word
  • PTC Creo Parametric
  • QuickPen DuctDesigner 3D
  • Revcad Software Sheet Lightning
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Sheet Metal Workers salary by location

Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.

All 327 locations →

Related careers

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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.