Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$51,330

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$45,610 – $61,250

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

52,360

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

-6.2%

Shrinking (below 0%)

Openings a year (projected)

4,800

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

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

Fabricate, position, align, and fit parts of structural metal products.

Main tasks

• Verify conformance of workpieces to specifications, using squares, rulers, and measuring tapes.
• Study engineering drawings and blueprints to determine materials requirements and task sequences.
• Position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools.
• Lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met.
• Tack-weld fitted parts together.
• Move parts into position, manually or with hoists or cranes.
• Set up and operate fabricating machines, such as brakes, rolls, shears, flame cutters, grinders, and drill presses, to bend, cut, form, punch, drill, or otherwise form and assemble metal components.
• Position or tighten braces, jacks, clamps, ropes, or bolt straps, or bolt parts in position for welding or riveting.

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

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Training once hired: moderate-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 2 programmes 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.

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• Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic

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• Sheet Metal Workers

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• Structural Iron and Steel Workers

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• Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

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• Tool and Die Makers

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