Boilermakers earned a median annual wage of $73,340 in May 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, well above the median for most trades this site covers. At the same time, BLS projects employment in the occupation to decline 2 percent from 2024 to 2034, one of the few trades with a negative growth projection rather than a merely modest one. Despite that, about 800 openings are still projected each year, almost entirely driven by retirements rather than new demand. The honest read: this is a smaller, higher-paying, more volatile trade than electrical or HVAC, not a growth industry, and not a dying one either.
Most career content picks one number and builds a narrative around it. Boilermaking is the trade that punishes that approach, because both the good number and the bad number are real, and neither cancels the other out.
What the job actually is
Boilermakers assemble, install, maintain, and repair boilers and other large pressure vessels and containers that hold liquids and gases. The work shows up in power plants, refineries, shipyards, and heavy industrial facilities, wherever something large needs to safely contain pressurized steam, chemicals, or gas. It's precision welding and fabrication work on a scale most trades never touch.
A lot of the work is contract-based field construction and repair, which means travel is common, and so is downtime between jobs when a facility isn't undergoing a shutdown or maintenance cycle.
The pay is genuinely strong
The median annual wage was $73,340 in May 2024. The lowest 10 percent earned under $48,390, typically apprentices, while the highest 10 percent earned more than $107,600, putting experienced boilermakers in the same range as the top-paying trades on this site. Overtime is a real factor here too: extended hours during planned outages and shutdowns are common and pay accordingly.
The decline is real, and it has a specific cause
BLS projects a 2 percent decline in boilermaker employment from 2024 to 2034. That's not a rounding error or statistical noise, it's a genuine contraction, and it deserves to be stated plainly rather than buried. The primary driver is the ongoing closure of coal-fired power plants across the US, which has reduced demand for the large-scale boiler maintenance those facilities required.
What that decline doesn't mean is that the trade is disappearing. About 800 openings are still projected every year, nearly all of them from workers retiring or transferring out rather than the occupation shrinking in place. Boilermakers also work outside coal power entirely: refineries, chemical plants, shipbuilding, and industrial fabrication all use the same core skill set, and none of that work depends on coal.
The apprenticeship path
Most boilermakers train through a registered apprenticeship, commonly sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, combining paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction over roughly 4 years. Apprentices earn less than fully trained boilermakers and receive raises as they progress through the program.
Who this trade is actually for
Boilermaking fits people who want strong pay, don't need the security of a growing or even stable-sized occupation, and can handle contract-based, travel-heavy work with real gaps between jobs. It does not fit people who want predictable year-round scheduling or who are relying on this specific trade to still be expanding a decade from now. The honest pitch is: real money, real skill, real volatility, in that order.
- How much do boilermakers make?
- The median annual wage for boilermakers was $73,340 in May 2024, according to BLS. The lowest 10 percent earned under $48,390, while the highest 10 percent earned more than $107,600.
- Is boilermaking a dying trade?
- Employment is projected to decline 2 percent from 2024 to 2034, driven mostly by the closure of coal-fired power plants. It is not disappearing outright. About 800 openings are still projected each year, almost entirely from retirements, and the trade remains active in nuclear, LNG, and industrial fabrication work.
- What does a boilermaker actually do?
- Boilermakers assemble, install, maintain, and repair boilers and other large pressure vessels and containers that hold liquids and gases, work found in power plants, refineries, shipyards, and heavy industrial facilities.
- How do you become a boilermaker?
- Most boilermakers train through a registered apprenticeship, commonly through the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, combining paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction over about 4 years.
- Is boilermaker a good career choice in 2026?
- For someone who wants strong pay, doesn't need a large or growing occupation, and can handle travel-heavy contract work with periods of unemployment between jobs, yes. It's a smaller, more volatile trade than electrical or HVAC, with a real tradeoff between pay and job security.