This is the 17th installment of Construction Junkie's weekly analysis of the hourly wages of each individual construction profession by state. The three previous professions we examined were solar panel installers, window glaziers, and sheet metal workers. You can also see the full list of all past and future professions by clicking here.
Insulation workers, specifically those that install floor, ceiling, and wall insulation typically learn their trade on the job. Whether installing more traditional fiberglass insulation or spray foam insulation, these types of workers almost exclusively work indoors. Although there are also mechanical insulation workers, their numbers are broken out separately, as they make an average of $10,000 per year more than floor, wall, and ceiling insulators.
Below you'll find a breakout of how each state compensates their floor, ceiling, and wall insulators. All data below comes from the BLS' most recent reports from May 2016.
Graph of Average Hourly Wage of Insulation Workers, by State
Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of Insulation Workers, by State
51. District of Columbia -- No Data Available/hour
50. Hawaii -- No Data Available/hour
49. Rhode Island -- No Data Available/hour
48. Idaho -- $12.97/hour
47. Mississippi -- $14.11/hour
46. Montana -- $14.50/hour
45. New Mexico -- $14.59/hour
44. Arizona -- $14.91/hour
43. Alabama -- $14.99/hour
42. Arkansas -- $15.96/hour
41. Kansas -- $16.20/hour
40. Colorado -- $16.22/hour
39. Tennessee -- $16.24/hour
38. West Virginia -- $16.64/hour
37. Nebraska -- $16.76/hour
36. South Dakota -- $16.78/hour
35. Georgia -- $16.89/hour
34. Florida -- $16.90/hour
33. South Carolina -- $17.09/hour
32. Vermont -- $17.12/hour
31. North Carolina -- $17.20/hour
30. Indiana -- $17.24/hour
29. Oklahoma -- $17.25/hour
28. Wyoming -- $17.73/hour
27. Texas -- $17.81/hour
26. Nevada -- $17.95/hour
25. Missouri -- $17.98/hour
24. Minnesota -- $18.00/hour
23. New Jersey -- $18.02/hour
22. Michigan -- $18.11/hour
21. New Hampshire -- $18.11/hour
20. Oregon -- $18.24/hour
19. Virginia -- $18.44/hour
18. Connecticut -- $18.56/hour
17. Kentucky -- $18.60/hour
16. Massachusetts -- $18.75/hour
15. Maryland -- $18.81/hour
14. Ohio -- $19.05/hour
13. Wisconsin -- $19.24/hour
12. Maine -- $19.36/hour
11. Louisiana -- $19.41/hour
10. Iowa--$19.67/hour
9. Pennsylvania -- $20.72/hour
8. Utah -- $20.90/hour
7. North Dakota -- $21.51/hour
6. Delaware -- $21.79/hour
5. New York -- $22.06/hour
4. Washington -- $24.55/hour
3. California -- $26.27/hour
2. Alaska -- $27.92/hour
1. Illinois -- $28.08/hour
Graph of Average Hourly Wage of Insulation Workers - Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State
Cost of living in each state also has a large impact on the amount of money construction trades actually bring home, so the graph below shows each state's adjusted hourly wage based upon the cost of living index for that state. All cost of living index data comes from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center and was last updated for the second quarter of 2017. The cost of living index was based upon grocery, housing, utilities, transportation, health, and miscellaneous costs for each state.
Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of Insulation Workers- Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State
51. District of Columbia -- No Data Available/hour
50. Hawaii -- No Data Available/hour
49. Rhode Island -- No Data Available/hour
48. Oregon -- $12.46/hour
47. Massachusetts -- $13.03/hour
46. Maryland -- $13.73/hour
45. New Jersey -- $13.97/hour
44. Idaho -- $14.10/hour
43. California -- $14.29/hour
42. Montana -- $14.40/hour
41. New York -- $15.09/hour
40. Arizona -- $15.43/hour
39. New Mexico -- $15.45/hour
38. Connecticut -- $15.50/hour
37. Colorado -- $15.75/hour
36. New Hampshire -- $15.94/hour
35. Mississippi -- $16.16/hour
34. Alabama -- $16.38/hour
33. Vermont -- $16.62/hour
32. South Dakota -- $16.85/hour
31. Nevada -- $16.98/hour
30. Maine -- $17.09/hour
29. Florida -- $17.15/hour
28. West Virginia -- $17.32/hour
27. South Carolina -- $17.33/hour
26. Kansas -- $17.87/hour
25. Tennessee -- $17.96/hour
24. Arkansas -- $17.97/hour
23. Virginia -- $18.03/hour
22. Minnesota -- $18.04/hour
21. North Carolina -- $18.13/hour
20. Nebraska -- $18.13/hour
19. Wyoming -- $18.35/hour
18. Georgia -- $18.48/hour
17. Indiana -- $18.83/hour
16. Oklahoma -- $19.01/hour
15. Alaska -- $19.43/hour
14. Texas -- $19.48/hour
13. Wisconsin -- $19.74/hour
12. Missouri -- $19.80/hour
11. Kentucky -- $19.85/hour
10. Michigan--$19.87/hour
9. Pennsylvania -- $20.39/hour
8. Louisiana -- $20.46/hour
7. Ohio -- $20.52/hour
6. Iowa -- $21.26/hour
5. Delaware -- $21.31/hour
4. North Dakota -- $21.75/hour
3. Utah -- $21.88/hour
2. Washington -- $22.59/hour
1. Illinois -- $28.87/hour
In the midst of fierce discourse over the bipartisan infrastructure bill lies a unique opportunity for the United States.