The 10 States With The Highest Sheet Metal Mechanic Salaries For 2023

Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do sheet metal mechanics get paid where I live?

And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for sheet metal mechanics by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.

The state with the best salary for sheet metal mechanics after this adjustment? That would be Sheet Metal Workers.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for sheet metal mechanic salaries:

To better understand how sheet metal mechanic salaries change across America, we decided to take a look the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average pay for sheet metal mechanics by state.

Additionally, we wanted to adjust the salary based on the cost of living in a state — because your salary goes further in North Carolina than it does in California.

Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.

How we determined sheet metal mechanic pay by state

As we mentioned earlier, we took the average annual salary data for sheet metal mechanics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — specifically their ‘Occupational Employment Statistics.’

To make the comparison of salaries apples to apples across states, we also took into account the cost of living in each state.

We then created an index by dividing the average wage for a state by the cost of living relative to average. As an example, the cost of living index in California is 135.9 and the average pay is $71000, so our index value would be:

$71,000 * (100 / 135.9) = $52,244

We then ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary index ranking as highest average salary for sheet metal mechanics.

Here’s a look at the full ranking for all states.

Detailed List Of Sheet Metal Mechanic Salaries By State

Rank	State	Adjusted Salary	Average Wage	Cost Of Living
1	Washington	$80,760	$84,960	105.2
2	Missouri	$70,873	$64,070	90.4
3	Pennsylvania	$70,019	$71,000	101.4
4	Illinois	$69,577	$65,820	94.6
5	New Jersey	$68,383	$83,360	121.9
6	Alaska	$67,307	$88,240	131.1
7	Minnesota	$67,023	$67,560	100.8
8	Wisconsin	$65,433	$63,340	96.8
9	Indiana	$64,245	$57,500	89.5
10	Iowa	$62,505	$56,880	91.0
11	Michigan	$62,213	$55,370	89.0
12	Ohio	$60,277	$56,540	93.8
13	Oklahoma	$60,123	$53,630	89.2
14	North Dakota	$59,818	$59,460	99.4
15	New Mexico	$58,756	$56,700	96.5
16	Nevada	$57,473	$59,370	103.3
17	Nebraska	$57,281	$52,470	91.6
18	Oregon	$56,384	$65,180	115.6
19	Kansas	$56,262	$50,580	89.9
20	Montana	$55,912	$56,360	100.8
21	West Virginia	$55,599	$51,930	93.4
22	Utah	$55,010	$51,160	93.0
23	Texas	$54,851	$49,750	90.7
24	Connecticut	$54,690	$69,840	127.7
25	Massachusetts	$54,235	$72,350	133.4
26	Virginia	$53,849	$54,280	100.8
27	Kentucky	$53,845	$48,730	90.5
28	Georgia	$53,260	$48,680	91.4
29	Mississippi	$52,922	$45,460	85.9
30	Tennessee	$52,539	$46,970	89.4
31	New York	$52,496	$68,770	131.0
32	California	$52,244	$71,000	135.9
33	Colorado	$50,924	$52,860	103.8
34	Idaho	$50,662	$46,660	92.1
35	Wyoming	$50,435	$46,300	91.8
36	Arizona	$50,132	$49,130	98.0
37	Arkansas	$49,781	$43,360	87.1
38	Rhode Island	$49,478	$59,720	120.7
39	North Carolina	$49,148	$46,150	93.9
40	Hawaii	$46,337	$77,800	167.9
41	Louisiana	$46,234	$43,830	94.8
42	Florida	$45,869	$45,090	98.3
43	South Dakota	$45,361	$47,040	103.7
44	Maine	$45,108	$49,980	110.8
45	Maryland	$44,701	$56,100	125.5
46	New Hampshire	$43,649	$51,070	117.0
47	South Carolina	$43,407	$43,060	99.2
48	Vermont	$38,497	$46,620	121.1

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Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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