Best degree programs for Boilermakers, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 2 schools train Boilermakers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $76,410 median wage, 10,190 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 2 schools train boilermakers, graduating 15 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Boilermaking/Boilermaker. The job pays a median of $76,410 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About boilermakers
Construct, assemble, maintain, and repair stationary steam boilers and boiler house auxiliaries. Align structures or plate sections to assemble boiler frame tanks or vats, following blueprints. Work involves use of hand and power tools, plumb bobs, levels, wedges, dogs, or turnbuckles. Assist in testing assembled vessels. Direct cleaning of boilers and boiler furnaces. Inspect and repair boiler fittings, such as safety valves, regulators, automatic-control mechanisms, water columns, and auxiliary machines.
A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.
Read more on Wikipedia →Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boilermaking/Boilermakermain feeder CIP 48.0801 | 15 | 100.0% | 2 | — | — |
Top 2 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis, IN Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Boilermaking/Boilermaker | 40% | — | — |
| 2 | Columbus State Community College Columbus, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Boilermaking/Boilermaker | 28% | — | — |
What boilermakers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Conduct pressure tests on vessels, such as boilers.
- Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.
- Examine boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, or vats to locate defects, such as leaks, weak spots, or defective sections, so that they can be repaired.
- Inspect assembled vessels or individual components, such as tubes, fittings, valves, controls, or auxiliary mechanisms, to locate any defects.
- Lay out plate, sheet steel, or other heavy metal and locate and mark bending and cutting lines, using protractors, compasses, and drawing instruments or templates.
- Bell, bead with power hammers, or weld pressure vessel tube ends to ensure leakproof joints.
- Locate and mark reference points for columns or plates on boiler foundations, following blueprints and using straightedges, squares, transits, or measuring instruments.
- Shape or fabricate parts, such as stacks, uptakes, or chutes, to adapt pressure vessels, heat exchangers, or piping to premises, using heavy-metalworking machines such as brakes, rolls, or drill presses.
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.5
- Active Listening3.0
- Active Learning3.0
- Monitoring3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Learning Strategies2.8
- Writing2.6
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical4.2
- English Language3.3
- Mathematics3.2
- Administration and Management2.9
- Building and Construction2.8
- Computers and Electronics2.6
Abilities
- Near Vision4.0
- Control Precision4.0
- Problem Sensitivity3.9
- Deductive Reasoning3.9
- Finger Dexterity3.8
- Manual Dexterity3.8
Core activities
- Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment4.1
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.0
- Getting Information3.9
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems3.8
- Performing General Physical Activities3.7
- Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment3.7
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Boilermaker
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Apprenticeship
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Boilermakers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 48.0801Boilermaking/Boilermaker
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Boilermaker?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Boilermaking/Boilermaker, which awarded 15 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Boilermaker?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Boilermaking/Boilermaker. Together they graduate about 15 people a year.
How much do boilermakers earn?+
The median is $76,410 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $50,490 at the 10th percentile to $110,370 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for boilermakers growing?+
BLS projects a -2.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
2 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do boilermakers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Boilermaker, Boiler Mechanic, Boilermaker Mechanic, Boiler Technician (Boiler Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 47-2011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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