Statewide pay Government data
Insulation installers in Pennsylvania earn a statewide median of $50,600 a year, 5% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #20 of 48 states. About 610 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Pennsylvania
See all states on the insulation installer overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes insulation installer pay for 5 Pennsylvania metros. The highest-paying is Philadelphia at $50,320, followed by York and Pittsburgh.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhiladelphiaPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $50,320 | $49,067 | 370 |
| YorkPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $49,280 | $51,333 | 50 |
| PittsburghPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $47,110 | $49,762 | 140 |
| LancasterPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $46,640 | $47,467 | 60 |
| AllentownPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $41,620 | $41,633 | 40 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
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.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of insulation installer apprentices in Pennsylvania who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 64% completed (U.S.: 42%), about 19 graduates a year. The typical program runs 10,000 hours, about 5 years of full-time work. Some apprentices here are registered through a state agency that reports only partly to the federal system, so counts may be low. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
From 2015 to 2024, drywall and insulation contractors in Pennsylvania filed 33 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 2 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was falls, slips and trips (76% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only insulation installers.
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Licensing in Pennsylvania Official source
The main state licensing office in Pennsylvania is the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Home improvement contractors register with the state; most trades are licensed locally. It can point you to the right license for insulation installers.
Official Pennsylvania licensing site ↗
Requirements for insulation installers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 10.9% of wage and salary workers in Pennsylvania were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#20 of 51 states and D.C.), and 11.7% 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 Pennsylvania
All trades in Pennsylvania.