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

Sheet metal workers in Maryland earn a median wage of $62,560 a year, which works out to about $30.08 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's the midpoint — half the sheet metal workers in the state earn more, half earn less. Where you fall on that scale depends on your years in the trade, your employer, the type of work you specialize in, and where in Maryland you're working.

The bottom quarter of earners — workers who are newer to the trade, doing lighter commercial work, or working for smaller shops — come in at or below $51,110 a year, roughly $24.57 an hour. The top quarter pulls $75,310 or more, which is around $36.21 an hour. That top tier typically reflects workers with a decade or more of experience, specialty skills in HVAC duct fabrication, architectural sheet metal, or industrial applications, or those in supervisory roles. The spread from 25th to 75th percentile is over $24,000 a year — a meaningful gap that tells you experience and specialization pay off in this trade.

Maryland's geography plays a real role in where your wages land. The Baltimore metro area and the suburbs of Washington, D.C. — Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and the broader DC corridor — carry some of the highest demand and highest wages in the state. Commercial construction, government and federal facility work, and large HVAC contractors operating out of those corridors keep sheet metal fabricators and installers busy year-round. If you're working in more rural parts of the Eastern Shore or Western Maryland, expect the lower end of the range to be more common, simply because job volume is lower.

Overtime adds up fast in this trade. Sheet metal work on large commercial or government projects often involves compressed timelines, especially for HVAC rough-in before other trades follow. A worker earning $30.08 an hour base who logs 200 hours of overtime in a year adds roughly $9,000 to their take-home at time-and-a-half — pushing their real annual earnings well above the median figure. BLS wage data reflects straight-time hourly rates and does not capture overtime, per diem pay, or shift differentials, so actual earnings for full-time workers on busy project rosters often run higher than the published numbers.

Apprenticeship is the standard path into this trade in Maryland. A registered apprenticeship typically runs four to five years and combines on-the-job training with classroom instruction covering blueprint reading, duct layout, fabrication techniques, and welding. Apprentices start at a percentage of journeyworker scale — often 40–50% — and receive incremental raises as they advance. Completing apprenticeship puts you in a strong position to reach the median or above relatively quickly, especially if you pursue specialty certifications in welding, HVAC systems, or building envelope work.

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

To move toward the 75th percentile and beyond, the most direct levers are specialization and scope. Workers who can handle complex architectural sheet metal — copper roofing, custom cladding, ornamental work — command premium rates because fewer fabricators can do it. Welding certifications, especially for stainless or aluminum, add value for industrial and food-service clients. Foreman or general foreman roles bring supervisory pay on top of journeyworker rates. Contractors doing federal prevailing-wage work in Maryland are also required to pay wage determinations set under the Davis-Bacon Act, which can push rates higher than standard market wages on qualifying government projects — worth factoring in when choosing where to work.

The BLS data sourced here comes from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, published May 2025. It covers employees across private sector and government employers in Maryland, but does not include self-employed sheet metal contractors working for themselves. If you run your own fabrication shop or operate as an independent, your effective hourly rate will reflect your overhead, markup, and workload — and may be well above or below the employment-based figures shown here.