Construction and Extraction Occupations·SOC 47-2131

Best degree programs for Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall, ranked by enrollment

1 college programs and 1 schools train Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $49,120 median wage, 44,440 U.S. jobs. Federal data.

1 college programs at 1 schools train insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall, graduating 35 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Insulator. The job pays a median of $49,120 (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Graduates / yr
35
from every feeder program
Median annual wage
$49,120
BLS OEWS May 2025
Projected growth
+3.8%
About as fast as average
Openings / yr
3,400
new plus replacement
Schools
1
with a feeder program
States with jobs
1
BLS reports wages

About insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall

Line and cover structures with insulating materials. May work with batt, roll, or blown insulation materials.

Also calledInsulatorRetrofit InstallerInsulation EstimatorInsulation InstallerHosemanInstallerDampprooferAttic BlowerHose HandlerCork InsulatorFirestop WorkerBlower Insulator

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.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 46.0414
35
100.0%
1$31,641$9,500

Top 1 schools by graduates into this job

Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Ivy Tech Community College
Indianapolis, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
35Insulator40%

What insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall earn

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual wage
$49,120
Mean annual
$54,740
Median hourly
$23.62/hr
People employed
44,440
What the range looks like
10th pct$37,030Median$49,12090th pct$78,190

Top-paying metro areas

Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA
$76,610median
40 jobs
Medford, OR
$71,470median
50 jobs
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
$71,980median
1,250 jobs
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
$76,170median
370 jobs
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
$58,890median
190 jobs
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
$65,930median
50 jobs
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
$61,690median
150 jobs
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA
$62,710median
90 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.8%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
3,400
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,500
40,200 → 41,700
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
Plus short-term on-the-job training

Where the jobs are, state by state

Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.

This occupation state by state: pay, jobs, and schools
StateMedian payJobsConcentrationSchoolsGraduates / yr
Indianalimited$54,6307800.86×135

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

  • 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.
  • Fill blower hoppers with insulating materials.
  • Cover, seal, or finish insulated surfaces or access holes with plastic covers, canvas strips, sealants, tape, cement or asphalt mastic.
  • Read blueprints, and select appropriate insulation, based on space characteristics and the heat retaining or excluding characteristics of the material.

Skills

  • Active Listening3.0
  • Critical Thinking3.0
  • Speaking3.0
  • Monitoring2.9
  • Active Learning2.6
  • Reading Comprehension2.6
  • Mathematics2.3
  • Writing2.1

Knowledge areas

  • Building and Construction3.4
  • Customer and Personal Service3.0
  • Mechanical3.0
  • English Language2.9
  • Administration and Management2.8
  • Transportation2.6

Abilities

  • Extent Flexibility3.9
  • Multilimb Coordination3.5
  • Manual Dexterity3.5
  • Gross Body Equilibrium3.4
  • Trunk Strength3.4
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness3.3

Core activities

  • Handling and Moving Objects4.3
  • Performing General Physical Activities4.0
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates3.8
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials3.7
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events3.7
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment3.7

Tools and technology

hotmarks an O*NET hot technology
Microsoft ExcelhotMicrosoft Office softwarehotMicrosoft OutlookhotMicrosoft WindowshotCMSN FieldPAKComput-Ability Mechanical Insulation Key EstimatorNorth American Insulation Manufacturers Association NAIMA 3E PlusTurtle Creek Software Goldenseal

How to get in

How to become a Insulation Worker

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training

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 Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 46.0414Insulator

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 an Insulation Worker?+

No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Insulator, which awarded 35 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Insulation Worker?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Building/Construction Finishing. Together they graduate about 35 people a year.

How much do insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall earn?+

The median is $49,120 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $37,030 at the 10th percentile to $78,190 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 insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall growing?+

BLS projects a +3.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 3,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career?+

1 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 insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Insulator, Retrofit Installer, Insulation Estimator, Insulation Installer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 47-2131.

Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall by stateIndiana
Programs that lead hereBuilding/Construction Finishing

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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