Sheet Metal Workers — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
$61,800
United States, 2025
Employment
119,770
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
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
- Experience required
- None
Typical tasks
- Maintain equipment, making repairs or modifications when necessary.
- 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.
Choose a location
Salary analysis — United States
10th percentile
$38,630
25th percentile
$47,830
75th percentile
$81,610
90th percentile
$105,650
Most important skills
- Coordination3.1
- Critical Thinking3.1
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Monitoring3.1
- Active Listening3.0
- Judgment and Decision Making3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Mathematics3.0
- Time Management3.0
- Operation and Control2.9
- Active Learning2.9
- Operations Monitoring2.9
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 9 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
9
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coordination | 3.1 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.1 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Mathematics | 3.0 | 3.1 | Not selected | 3.1 |
| Time Management | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Monitoring | 3.1 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Active Listening | 3.0 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.0 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Speaking | 3.0 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.1 | 2.8 | Not selected | 2.8 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
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Compare with Sheet Metal WorkersHow salary varies by location
| Location | Median | Employment | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle, WA | $109,830 | 2,190 | 2025 |
| San Jose, CA | $109,280 | 750 | 2025 |
| San Francisco, CA | $102,660 | 880 | 2025 |
| Olympia, WA | $100,650 | 100 | 2025 |
| Atlantic City, NJ | $100,470 | 150 | 2025 |
| WA | $98,550 | 3,440 | 2025 |
| Anchorage, AK | $98,070 | 160 | 2025 |
| HI | $96,350 | 490 | 2025 |
| Kennewick, WA | $96,000 | 190 | 2025 |
| Chicago, IL | $95,310 | 2,430 | 2025 |
| AK | $94,600 | 240 | 2025 |
| Urban Honolulu, HI | $93,380 | 440 | 2025 |
| Michigan City, IN | $93,350 | 50 | 2025 |
| NJ | $92,840 | 2,790 | 2025 |
| Champaign, IL | $92,710 | 110 | 2025 |
| Bellingham, WA | $90,840 | 100 | 2025 |
| Springfield, IL | $90,330 | 40 | 2025 |
| Bremerton, WA | $88,730 | 180 | 2025 |
| Peoria, IL | $87,120 | 120 | 2025 |
| Duluth, MN | $86,630 | 110 | 2025 |
Career transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Sheet Metal Workers 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.