Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2003

47-2211 Sheet Metal Workers

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; inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Include sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
189,590 2.0 % $18.16 $37,780 0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $9.60 $12.26 $16.83 $23.23 $29.43
Annual Wage (2) $19,970 $25,500 $35,000 $48,310 $61,210

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Building equipment contractors 91,460 $19.16 $39,850 1 23
Architectural and structural metals mfg. 18,930 $16.79 $34,930 2 34
Building finishing contractors 16,090 $18.35 $38,170 3 26
Building foundation and exterior contractors 14,920 $16.80 $34,950 4 33
Federal government (OES designation) 5,550 $20.18 $41,960 5 19

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Local government (OES designation) 260 $27.51 $57,220 30 1
Other heavy construction 30 $26.65 $55,420 67 2
General medical and surgical hospitals 70 $25.55 $53,140 56 3
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing 80 $25.42 $52,880 54 4
Management of companies and enterprises 240 $24.77 $51,520 31 5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Kansas 3,210 $18.27 $37,990 0.247% 239
Oklahoma 3,040 $16.21 $33,720 0.214% 290
Maryland 5,230 $17.79 $37,010 0.214% 341
Indiana 6,110 $19.32 $40,190 0.214% 243
Nevada 2,140 $23.93 $49,770 0.201% 155

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
District of Columbia 70 $27.72 $57,660 0.012% 135
Hawaii 550 $26.05 $54,180 0.099% 100
Alaska 470 $25.58 $53,210 0.161% 141
New Jersey 4,000 $25.04 $52,090 0.103% 219
Nevada 2,140 $23.93 $49,770 0.201% 155

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Macon, GA MSA 1,250 $17.93 $37,300 0.872%
Tucson, AZ MSA 1,790 $12.69 $26,400 0.534%
Lynchburg, VA MSA 460 $14.07 $29,260 0.496%
Parkersburg-Marietta, WV-OH MSA 310 $16.26 $33,820 0.481%
Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI MSA 900 $23.04 $47,920 0.452%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Atlantic-Cape May, NJ PMSA 250 $29.40 $61,160 0.136%
Nassau-Suffolk, NY PMSA 1,260 $29.23 $60,810 0.105%
San Francisco, CA PMSA 1,280 $28.14 $58,530 0.131%
San Jose, CA PMSA 1,250 $27.17 $56,520 0.142%
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA PMSA (6) $26.90 $55,950 (6)

About May 2003 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Construction and Extraction Occupations

2003 May National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2003 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 7, 2004