How much do boilermakers make in Missouri in 2026?

The median boilermaker in Missouri earns $78,550 a year, which works out to roughly $37.76 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's the midpoint — half of Missouri boilermakers earn more, half earn less. If you're just starting out or still building your hours, expect pay closer to the 25th percentile at $66,040 annually ($31.75/hr). Experienced hands at the top of the range hit the 75th percentile at $87,850 a year, or about $42.24 an hour. These figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025.

The spread between the bottom quartile and the top quartile is over $21,800 per year. That gap doesn't close by accident. It reflects years of field experience, the complexity of work a boilermaker takes on, and the specific industries where they're employed. Missouri's industrial base — power generation, chemical processing, refineries, and heavy manufacturing — keeps steady demand for boilermakers who can handle pressure vessel fabrication, installation, and repair. Workers placed in those higher-complexity environments consistently land toward the upper end of the pay range.

Experience is the most straightforward driver of pay progression. Entry-level boilermakers typically start somewhere near or below the 25th percentile, often coming out of a four- or five-year apprenticeship program. As they accumulate certifications, weld qualifications, and hands-on hours on larger jobs, pay moves up. Workers who can demonstrate proficiency in layout, rigging, and code welding — especially ASME Section I and Section IX — are consistently in higher demand and command better rates.

Overtime matters a lot in this trade. Boilermakers frequently work scheduled outages, planned maintenance shutdowns, and turnarounds at power plants and industrial facilities. These projects often run six or seven days a week, with 10- to 12-hour days. A boilermaker at the median rate of $37.76/hr earns $56.64/hr on overtime (time-and-a-half). A two-week outage with 20 overtime hours per week adds over $2,260 in overtime earnings on top of regular pay. Workers who make themselves available for outage work can meaningfully increase their annual take-home beyond what the BLS wage figures reflect, since those numbers capture base hourly rates, not total compensation including overtime.

Geography within Missouri plays a role too. The Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas host a higher concentration of industrial facilities and construction activity. Workers willing to travel to larger plants or take out-of-area assignments — common in this trade — often access the higher end of the pay scale more quickly than those who stay in less industrialized parts of the state.

Some workers may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement — check with your local for current rates.

The BLS OEWS data is a strong baseline but has known limitations. It captures wages at a single point in time and doesn't reflect overtime, per diem, travel pay, or shift differentials. For boilermakers doing outage and shutdown work — which is a large share of what Missouri boilermakers do — actual annual earnings can run noticeably higher than the headline figures suggest. Use the BLS numbers as a floor for comparison, not a ceiling.

If you're looking to push your pay toward the 75th percentile and beyond, the levers are clear: accumulate weld certifications, stay current on code requirements, build a track record on outage and turnaround work, and be willing to travel when large jobs call for it. Boilermakers who specialize in specific repair techniques or high-alloy materials are consistently among the highest earners in the trade.