Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$49,120

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$43,200 – $60,980

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

44,440

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+2.4%

Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)

Openings a year (projected)

3,000

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

No formal educational credential

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Line and cover structures with insulating materials. May work with batt, roll, or blown insulation materials.

Main tasks

• Measure and cut insulation for covering surfaces, using tape measures, handsaws, power saws, knives, or scissors.
• Fit, wrap, staple, or glue insulating materials to structures or surfaces, using hand tools or wires.
• Cover and line structures with blown or rolled forms of materials to insulate against cold, heat, or moisture, using saws, knives, rasps, trowels, blowers, or other tools and implements.
• Distribute insulating materials evenly into small spaces within floors, ceilings, or walls, using blowers and hose attachments, or cement mortars.
• Move controls, buttons, or levers to start blowers and regulate flow of materials through nozzles.
• Fill blower hoppers with insulating materials.
• Cover, seal, or finish insulated surfaces or access holes with plastic covers, canvas strips, sealants, tape, cement or asphalt mastic.
• Read blueprints, and select appropriate insulation, based on space characteristics and the heat retaining or excluding characteristics of the material.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

No formal educational credential

Training once hired: short-term on-the-job training

O*NET Job Zone 1–2

Little to some preparation

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Insulation Workers, Mechanical

  $58,340 median · +5.1% projected

• Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles

  $56,460 median · +9% projected

• Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers

  $58,930 median · +2.5% projected

• Roofers

  $55,440 median · +5.3% projected

• Sheet Metal Workers

  $61,800 median · +2.5% projected

• Brickmasons and Blockmasons

  $62,120 median · +1.1% projected