- The middle half earn between $22.13 and $42.46 an hour.
- Nebraska ranks 20th of the 50 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- Nebraska pays more than 5 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 440 sheet metal workers on payrolls in Nebraska.
- At the state median wage, a sheet metal or HVAC business needs to bill about $124.99 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Sheet Metal Worker pay in Nebraska, 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 | $15.45 | $32,140 | $18.57 |
| 25th percentile | $22.13 | $46,030 | $22.99 |
| Median | $30.98 | $64,440 | $29.71 |
| 75th percentile | $42.46 | $88,310 | $39.24 |
| 90th percentile | $45.67 | $94,980 | $50.79 |
| Average (mean) | $32.33 | $67,250 | $32.62 |
Pay spreads out a lot in Nebraska. The bottom tenth earn $15.45 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $45.67 or more, a gap of 3 times against 2.7 nationally. Where a sheet metal worker sits on that range matters as much as the state.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $3.12 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $5.12 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $32.33, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Nebraska compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $64,440 in Nebraska against $61,800 nationally, $2,640 more.
In the state ranking, Nebraska sits 20th, between Michigan ($31.01) and Indiana ($30.79). The range runs from $22.03 in Arkansas to $47.38 in Washington.
Against its neighboring states, Nebraska is in the middle: Iowa pays more, and Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Wyoming pay less.
How many sheet metal workers work in Nebraska
About 440 sheet metal workers work on payrolls in Nebraska, 0.4% of the 119,770 nationwide, the 43rd largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.4 per 1,000 jobs, 0.56 times the national share.
What a sheet metal or HVAC business in Nebraska should charge
Say you run a sheet metal or HVAC business in Nebraska and pay the state median of $30.98 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on 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 | $30.98 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $69,368 |
| Break-even rate | ($69,368 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $106.25 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $106.25 ÷ 0.85 | $124.99 |
That is $124.99 per billable hour, 4 times the wage, and $2.23 more than the $122.76 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $42.46 in Nebraska, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $145.16.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.13, the rate only drops to $109.45.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
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.