---
title: "Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter"
description: "Fabricate, position, align, and fit parts of structural metal products."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-2041 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-2041.00

Fabricate, position, align, and fit parts of structural metal products.

Also advertised as: Fabricator; Fitter; Layout Man; Metal Fabricator; Mill Beam Fitter; Ship Fitter; Small Parts Fabricator; Steel Fabricator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $51,330 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $24.68/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $37,960 to $72,280, with the middle half between $45,610 and $61,250
- **Total US employment:** 52,360
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -6.2% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 4,800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 56/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 52,360 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $37,960 |
| 25th | $45,610 |
| 50th (median) | $51,330 |
| 75th | $61,250 |
| 90th | $72,280 |
| Mean (average) | $54,030 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ME | $64,760 | $66,728 | 770 |
| AK | $63,420 | $61,958 | 70 |
| OR | $62,220 | $60,197 | 560 |
| MA | $62,040 | $58,663 | 690 |
| WA | $61,850 | $57,797 | 1,050 |
| IN | $60,180 | $64,482 | 3,870 |
| CT | $58,760 | $56,713 | 500 |
| ID | $58,140 | $60,883 | 320 |
| CA | $57,590 | $52,014 | 3,420 |
| WI | $56,310 | $59,844 | 1,810 |
| MN | $56,210 | $56,996 | 640 |
| NJ | $55,650 | $51,147 | 1,540 |
| IL | $55,380 | $55,403 | 1,910 |
| KY | $55,250 | $61,281 | 450 |
| NY | $55,080 | $51,037 | 2,040 |

33 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 48 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 52,300 in the 2025–2035 base year to 49,000 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 3,200 jobs, or -6.2%. Declining: -6.2% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 4,800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 76.7% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 18.0% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 3.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 2.3% |

## What the work involves

- Verify conformance of workpieces to specifications, using squares, rulers, and measuring tapes.
- Study engineering drawings and blueprints to determine materials requirements and task sequences.
- Move parts into position, manually or with hoists or cranes.
- Position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools.
- Lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met.
- Lift or move materials and finished products, using large cranes.
- Hammer, chip, and grind workpieces to cut, bend, and straighten metal.
- Set up face blocks, jigs, and fixtures.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Mathematics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Visualization — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.91 |
| I — Investigative | 2.60 |
| A — Artistic | 1.73 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.12 |
| S — Social | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 87.7 |
| ISTP | 79.8 |
| ISFJ | 70.8 |
| INTJ | 69.3 |
| ESTJ | 68.4 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Aircraft Structure, Surface, Rigging, and Systems Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-structure-surface-rigging-and-systems-assembler) — median $65,380
- [Layout Worker, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/layout-worker-metal-and-plastic) — median $63,870
- [Sheet Metal Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sheet-metal-worker) — median $61,800
- [Structural Iron and Steel Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker) — median $62,780
- [Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/welding-soldering-and-brazing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $47,920
- [Tool and Die Maker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tool-and-die-maker) — median $64,050
- [Welder](https://nuecareer.com/careers/welder) — median $53,750
- [Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/reinforcing-iron-and-rebar-worker) — median $58,970
- [Millwright](https://nuecareer.com/careers/millwright) — median $65,700
- [Boilermaker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/boilermaker) — median $76,410

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter