How much do sheet metal workers make in California in 2026?

The median sheet metal worker in California earns $76,590 per year, which works out to about $36.82 per hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That figure puts California well above many other states for this trade, driven by high construction activity, strict building codes that demand skilled fabrication, and a cost of living that pushes wages upward across the board.

The pay range is wide. Workers at the 25th percentile — typically those earlier in their careers or in lower-cost regional markets — bring home $59,220 annually, or roughly $28.47 per hour. At the 75th percentile, experienced sheet metal workers are earning $107,360 a year, which comes to about $51.62 per hour. That spread of nearly $48,000 between the bottom and top quartiles tells you that this trade rewards experience, specialization, and geography in a meaningful way.

California's sheet metal trade covers a broad range of work: HVAC duct fabrication and installation, architectural sheet metal on commercial and civic buildings, industrial ventilation systems, roofing, and specialty work in semiconductor fabs, data centers, and food processing facilities. Workers who develop skills in precision fabrication, welding, or design-build HVAC systems can move toward the upper end of that pay range faster than those who stay in purely repetitive installation work.

Geography within California makes a significant difference. The San Francisco Bay Area and greater Los Angeles metro consistently post wages above the statewide median, fueled by heavy commercial construction, tech campus buildouts, and large-scale infrastructure projects. Inland markets like the Central Valley and the High Desert tend to track closer to or below the median, though large warehouse and distribution center projects have pulled wages up in some of those areas in recent years.

Overtime is a real income multiplier in this trade. Sheet metal work on commercial construction runs on project timelines, and it is common for workers to log 50-plus hours per week during peak phases. At the median rate of $36.82 per hour, a worker putting in 10 hours of overtime weekly at 1.5x would add roughly $27,600 to annual earnings over a full year — potentially pushing total compensation well into six figures without a wage increase of any kind.

Apprenticeship is the standard entry path. A typical sheet metal apprenticeship in California runs five years, combining on-the-job hours with classroom instruction in layout, fabrication, blueprint reading, and mechanical systems. Apprentices start at a percentage of journeyworker scale and receive incremental raises as they advance through the program. Completing an apprenticeship is the single most reliable way to move from the 25th-percentile range into the median and eventually beyond it.

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

The BLS OEWS data behind these figures captures base wages reported by employers. It does not include overtime pay, shift differentials, employer contributions to health insurance, retirement, or annuity funds. Total compensation packages in this trade can be substantially higher than the wage figures alone suggest, particularly for workers with full benefit coverage.

Contractors, foremen, and estimators who started as sheet metal workers often earn more than the 75th-percentile figure shown here, but those roles fall outside the BLS wage classification for this trade and are not reflected in these numbers. If you are weighing a path into sheet metal work or trying to benchmark a current offer, use these figures as a floor-to-ceiling guide for direct craft labor, then factor in your full package before drawing conclusions.