Statewide pay Government data
Insulation installers in Iowa earn a statewide median of $55,820 a year, 16% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #10 of 48 states. About 460 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Iowa
See all states on the insulation installer overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes insulation installer pay for 2 Iowa metros: Des Moines and Sioux City.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Des MoinesIOWA · IA | $70,410 | $76,782 | 200 |
| Sioux CityIOWA · IA | $49,000 | $56,678 | 90 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Iowa's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Line and cover structures with insulating materials. May work with batt, roll, or blown insulation materials.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,000 openings a year. Typical training: short-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, insulation installers have 312 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 3.6× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is falls, slips and trips.
What the work is like Government data
How often insulation installers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Licensing in Iowa Official source
The main state licensing office in Iowa is the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. It can point you to the right license for insulation installers.
Official Iowa licensing site ↗
Requirements for insulation installers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 6.8% of wage and salary workers in Iowa were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#28 of 51 states and D.C.), and 8.2% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only insulation installers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Iowa
All trades in Iowa.