- The middle half earn between $28.56 and $50.64 an hour.
- Only 4 states pay sheet metal workers more at the median.
- Illinois pays more than all 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 3,260 sheet metal workers on payrolls in Illinois.
- At the state median wage, a sheet metal or HVAC business needs to bill about $143.73 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Sheet Metal Worker pay in Illinois, 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 | $20.30 | $42,220 | $18.57 |
| 25th percentile | $28.56 | $59,400 | $22.99 |
| Median | $41.65 | $86,630 | $29.71 |
| 75th percentile | $50.64 | $105,330 | $39.24 |
| 90th percentile | $56.69 | $117,910 | $50.79 |
| Average (mean) | $39.41 | $81,960 | $32.62 |
From the bottom tenth ($20.30) to the top tenth ($56.69), the top of the scale pays about 2.8 times the bottom in Illinois, close to the 2.7 times spread for sheet metal workers nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $20.30 against $18.57 at the bottom tenth, and $56.69 against $50.79 at the top.
The average wage ($39.41) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Illinois.
How Illinois compares with other states
Over a full year, the Illinois median of $86,630 is $24,830 more than the national $61,800.
In the state ranking, Illinois sits 5th, between New Jersey ($44.64) and Massachusetts ($39.47). The range runs from $22.03 in Arkansas to $47.38 in Washington.
Illinois pays sheet metal workers more than any of its neighboring states, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Illinois. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many sheet metal workers work in Illinois
About 3,260 sheet metal workers work on payrolls in Illinois, 2.7% of the 119,770 nationwide, the 11th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.5 per 1,000 jobs, 0.69 times the national share.
What a sheet metal or HVAC business in Illinois should charge
Higher wages in Illinois go straight into the price. Take a sheet metal or HVAC business in Illinois paying the state median of $41.65 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 | $41.65 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $93,259 |
| Break-even rate | ($93,259 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $122.17 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $122.17 ÷ 0.85 | $143.73 |
That is $143.73 per billable hour, 3.5 times the wage, and $20.97 more than the $122.76 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $50.64 in Illinois, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $159.52.
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.