How much do boilermakers make in New York in 2026?

The median boilermaker in New York earns $84,770 a year, which works out to roughly $40.75 an hour on a standard 2,080-hour year. That figure sits in the middle of a wide spread: entry-level and lower-wage workers at the 25th percentile pull in $64,660 annually (about $31.09/hr), while experienced hands in the top quarter of earners reach $120,290 a year — close to $57.83 an hour. That $55,630 gap between the bottom quarter and the top quarter tells you this is a trade where experience, specialization, and the type of work you land genuinely move the needle.

Boilermakers in New York work across a range of industries — power generation, chemical plants, shipyards, oil refineries, and industrial facilities concentrated downstate as well as in the Buffalo and Albany corridors. The type of employer matters. A boilermaker doing routine maintenance at a municipal facility will typically sit closer to the 25th percentile, while someone doing shutdown work at a refinery or pressure-vessel installation at a power plant is more likely to push toward the 75th percentile or above.

Geography within the state makes a real difference. New York City and its surrounding metro area tend to pay more, driven by higher cost of living, dense industrial infrastructure, and stronger demand for skilled trades. Workers based upstate — in Rochester, Syracuse, or the Southern Tier — may see rates that trail the statewide median, though specific regional BLS breakouts for this trade are not available in the May 2025 OEWS release.

Overtime is a meaningful income lever for boilermakers. The work is often project-driven, and shutdowns or emergency repairs frequently require extended hours. A worker at the median rate of $40.75 per hour earns $61.13 at time-and-a-half. Running consistent overtime during a multi-week outage can push annual take-home well past what the BLS annual figure reflects, since those figures represent straight-time equivalent wages only.

Entry into the trade in New York typically runs through a multi-year apprenticeship program that combines on-the-job hours with classroom instruction in blueprint reading, welding, rigging, and pressure systems. Apprentice pay scales start below the 25th percentile and step up annually, so workers new to a registered program should expect to earn less than $64,660 for the first year or two. Journeyman status is what gets most workers into the published BLS range.

Certifications move pay up. Boilermakers who hold ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code qualifications, or who carry certified welding credentials in specific processes — TIG, stick, or flux-core on chrome-moly or stainless — are in a different conversation with employers than someone with general fabrication experience. Specialty certifications signal that you can work on code-stamped vessels without supervision, and employers pay for that.

Some boilermakers in New York work under a collective bargaining agreement. Pay, benefits, and working conditions under those agreements are set by the specific contract in place, and they vary. If you're covered by or considering a union position, the only reliable number is the rate schedule in your local's current agreement — not any statewide average.

The BLS OEWS figures used here are employer-reported wage data from May 2025. They capture base wages and salary but do not include overtime earnings, shift differentials, per diem, travel pay, or the value of benefits like health insurance and pension contributions. For boilermakers, those additions can be significant. A worker at the median base of $84,770 who regularly works overtime and receives employer-paid benefits is earning meaningfully more in total compensation than that single number suggests.