- The middle half earn between $27.74 and $49.77 an hour.
- Only 2 states pay sheet metal workers more at the median.
- Alaska pays more than 1 of its 2 nearby states it is compared with.
- BLS counts about 240 sheet metal workers on payrolls in Alaska.
- At the state median wage, a sheet metal or HVAC business needs to bill about $150.46 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Sheet Metal Worker pay in Alaska, bottom to top
Sheet metal workers fabricate and install ductwork, flashing, gutters and metal roofing parts, in a shop and on site.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $23.70 | $49,300 | $18.57 |
| 25th percentile | $27.74 | $57,690 | $22.99 |
| Median | $45.48 | $94,600 | $29.71 |
| 75th percentile | $49.77 | $103,520 | $39.24 |
| 90th percentile | $56.05 | $116,580 | $50.79 |
| Average (mean) | $40.38 | $83,980 | $32.62 |
Pay is bunched up in Alaska. The top tenth earn $56.05 an hour or more, about 2.4 times the $23.70 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.7 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $23.70 against $18.57 at the bottom tenth, and $56.05 against $50.79 at the top.
The average wage ($40.38) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Alaska.
How Alaska compares with other states
Over a full year, the Alaska median of $94,600 is $32,800 more than the national $61,800.
In the state ranking, Alaska sits 3rd, between Hawaii ($46.32) and New Jersey ($44.64). The range runs from $22.03 in Arkansas to $47.38 in Washington.
Alaska has no land border, so it is set here against Washington and Oregon. Washington pays more and Oregon pays less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Alaska. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Nearby state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Alaska |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | $45.48 | $94,600 | |
| Washington | $47.38 | $98,550 | +$1.90 an hour |
| Oregon | $35.46 | $73,750 | −$10.02 an hour |
How many sheet metal workers work in Alaska
Alaska has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 240 sheet metal workers on payrolls, 0.2% of the 119,770 nationwide.
That is 0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in Alaska, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a sheet metal or HVAC business in Alaska should charge
Higher wages in Alaska go straight into the price. Take a sheet metal or HVAC business in Alaska paying the state median of $45.48 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its starting numbers (40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit).
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $45.48 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $101,835 |
| Break-even rate | ($101,835 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $127.89 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $127.89 ÷ 0.85 | $150.46 |
That is $150.46 per billable hour, 3.3 times the wage, and $27.69 more than the $122.76 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $49.77 in Alaska, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $157.99.
At this wage the pay itself is the biggest part of the price, so every raise shows up in the rate: a dollar more an hour adds about $1.76 per billed hour.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-2211, sheet metal workers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: sheet metal worker salary by state.