Statewide pay Government data
Sheet metal workers in Wisconsin earn a statewide median of $77,760 a year, 27% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #8 of 50 states. About 3,180 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Wisconsin
See all states on the sheet metal worker overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes sheet metal worker pay for 10 Wisconsin metros. The highest-paying is Sheboygan at $83,220, followed by Appleton and Milwaukee.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| SheboyganWISCONSIN · WI | $83,220 | $88,519 | 40 |
| AppletonWISCONSIN · WI | $81,400 | $88,077 | 400 |
| MilwaukeeWISCONSIN · WI | $78,840 | $81,331 | 1,020 |
| WausauWISCONSIN · WI | $77,330 | $83,464 | 170 |
| Green BayWISCONSIN · WI | $76,760 | $82,461 | 280 |
| Eau ClaireWISCONSIN · WI | $76,040 | $81,943 | 80 |
| La CrosseWISCONSIN · WI | $75,190 | $81,934 | 60 |
| MadisonWISCONSIN · WI | $74,450 | $76,526 | 340 |
| JanesvilleWISCONSIN · WI | $70,130 | $74,843 | 30 |
| OshkoshWISCONSIN · WI | $62,500 | $67,256 | 70 |
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 Wisconsin's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
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.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2.5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,800 openings a year. Typical training: apprenticeship.
Nationally, sheet metal workers have 163 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.9× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is falls, slips and trips.
What the work is like Government data
How often sheet metal workers 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.
Getting started: registered apprenticeship Government data
Most sheet metal workers train through a paid apprenticeship: you work and earn under experienced pros while taking classes, and pay usually rises as you progress. 727,586 people were active registered apprentices nationwide in FY2026, up 87% since FY2016, and construction is the largest field with 290,043 of them (40%), according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Search apprenticeship openings ↗Find training programs & sponsors ↗
Official U.S. Department of Labor tools at Apprenticeship.gov. Counts: DOL Apprentices by State dashboard, FY2026 (all occupations).
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of sheet metal worker apprentices in Wisconsin who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 75% completed (U.S.: 57%), about 79 graduates a year. The typical program runs 10,440 hours, about 5 years of full-time work. 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, sheet metal and HVAC contractors in Wisconsin filed 37 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 12 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (46% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only sheet metal workers. OSHA also opened 3 fatality investigations at sheet metal and HVAC contractors in Wisconsin over the same years (federal and state programs).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Where to train in Wisconsin Government data
17 schools in Wisconsin offer precision metal working (welding, machining, sheet metal) programs below the bachelor's level, 16 of them at public colleges. Many people in this trade learn through an apprenticeship instead; a program can shorten it or get you hired as a helper.
Where published, graduates earned a median of $50,390 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwood Technical College Rice Lake, WI · Public | Certificate | $23,164 | 471 | $50,067 |
| Fox Valley Technical College Appleton, WI · Public | Certificate | $20,817 | 255 | $55,048 |
| Gateway Technical College Kenosha, WI · Public | Certificate | $17,700 | 243 | $48,793 |
| Northcentral Technical College Wausau, WI · Public | Certificate | $17,741 | 160 | $50,390 |
| Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Green Bay, WI · Public | Certificate | $15,993 | 157 | $50,756 |
| Moraine Park Technical College Fond du Lac, WI · Public | Certificate | $15,601 | 145 | $44,776 |
| Waukesha County Technical College Pewaukee, WI · Public | Certificate | $16,793 | 143 | — |
| Chippewa Valley Technical College Eau Claire, WI · Public | Certificate | $17,301 | 134 | $54,384 |
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (data updated October 2026). Cost is the school's average yearly cost of attendance before financial aid; earnings are the median for graduates one year after finishing, shown only where the school has enough graduates to publish. “—” means not published.
Licensing in Wisconsin Official source
The main state licensing office in Wisconsin is the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. It can point you to the right license for sheet metal workers.
Official Wisconsin licensing site ↗
Requirements for sheet metal workers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 6.4% of wage and salary workers in Wisconsin were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#30 of 51 states and D.C.), and 7.5% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only sheet metal workers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Wisconsin
All trades in Wisconsin.