Career
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall
Insulate buildings to keep heat in or out.
$49,120
Median pay
+2.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
3,000
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Measure and cut insulation for covering surfaces, using tape measures, handsaws, power saws, knives, or scissors.
- Fit, wrap, staple, or glue insulating materials to structures or surfaces, using hand tools or wires.
- Cover and line structures with blown or rolled forms of materials to insulate against cold, heat, or moisture, using saws, knives, rasps, trowels, blowers, or other tools and implements.
- Distribute insulating materials evenly into small spaces within floors, ceilings, or walls, using blowers and hose attachments, or cement mortars.
- Move controls, buttons, or levers to start blowers and regulate flow of materials through nozzles.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Measure and cut insulation for covering surfaces, using tape measures, handsaws, power saws, knives, or scissors.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, Operation and Control.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $49,120 a year and 3,000 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- InsulatorCIP 46.0414
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Insulation Workers, Mechanical$58,340 · +5.1%
- Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles$56,460 · +9.0%
- Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers$58,930 · +2.5%
- Roofers$55,440 · +5.3%
- Sheet Metal Workers$61,800 · +2.5%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.