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Sheet Metal Worker

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What Does it Take to Be a Sheet Metal Worker?

Career 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.

A Day in the Life of a Sheet Metal Worker

  • Finish parts, using hacksaws or hand, rotary, or squaring shears.
  • Fasten roof panel edges or machine-made moldings to structures by nailing or welding.
  • Perform sheet metal work necessary for solar panel installations.
  • Secure metal roof panels in place by interlocking and fastening grooved panel edges.
  • Hire, train, or supervise new employees or apprentices.
  • 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.

What Every Sheet Metal Worker Should Know

When polled, Sheet Metal Workers say the following skills are most frequently used in their jobs:

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.

Time Management: Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

Types of Sheet Metal Worker Jobs

  • Air Conditioning Installer
  • Layer Out
  • Geothermal Sheet Metal Worker
  • Sheet Metal Layout Mechanic
  • Sheet Metal Worker

Job Opportunities for Sheet Metal Workers

In the United States, there were 138,900 jobs for Sheet Metal Worker in 2016. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 8.6% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 12,000 new jobs for Sheet Metal Worker by 2026. The BLS estimates 16,200 yearly job openings in this field.

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The states with the most job growth for Sheet Metal Worker are Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada. Watch out if you plan on working in Maine, Vermont, or Alaska. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Salary for a Sheet Metal Worker

Sheet Metal Workers make between $27,780 and $86,290 a year.

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Sheet Metal Workers who work in Hawaii, Illinois, or Minnesota, make the highest salaries.

How much do Sheet Metal Workers make in different U.S. states?

State Annual Mean Salary
Alabama $38,970
Alaska $61,030
Arizona $41,790
Arkansas $37,540
California $56,310
Colorado $47,090
Connecticut $55,670
Delaware $54,620
District of Columbia $60,540
Florida $40,100
Georgia $46,550
Hawaii $76,900
Idaho $42,700
Illinois $69,780
Indiana $55,290
Iowa $47,750
Kansas $43,600
Kentucky $41,790
Louisiana $44,860
Maine $45,430
Maryland $56,280
Massachusetts $65,180
Michigan $52,180
Minnesota $68,870
Mississippi $40,180
Missouri $61,840
Montana $53,350
Nebraska $48,970
Nevada $49,750
New Hampshire $49,690
New Jersey $61,790
New Mexico $47,360
New York $70,070
North Carolina $37,980
North Dakota $51,240
Ohio $53,320
Oklahoma $49,900
Oregon $57,450
Pennsylvania $57,540
Rhode Island $57,580
South Carolina $40,280
South Dakota $42,720
Tennessee $44,910
Texas $40,860
Utah $53,880
Vermont $47,040
Virginia $47,440
Washington $65,360
West Virginia $56,950
Wisconsin $56,480
Wyoming $43,040

Tools & Technologies Used by Sheet Metal Workers

Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Sheet Metal Workers may use on a daily basis:

  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft Office
  • Data entry software
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Spreadsheet software
  • Computer aided design CAD software
  • PTC Creo Parametric
  • Computer aided manufacturing CAM software

How do I Become a Sheet Metal Worker?

Education needed to be a Sheet Metal Worker:

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How Long Does it Take to Become a Sheet Metal Worker?

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Where Sheet Metal Workers Work

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The table below shows some of the most common industries where those employed in this career field work.

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You May Also Be Interested In…

Those interested in being a Sheet Metal Worker may also be interested in:

Career changers with experience as a Sheet Metal Worker sometimes find work in one of the following fields:

References:

Image Credit: US Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class John Linzmeier via Public domain

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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