Money · 1 of 5
What boilermakers make
Journeyperson
$102,000
1st-year apprentice
$78,000
Busy shutdown year
$114,000
Job Bank puts the trade at $38 to $55 an hour, median $49. Almost all boilermakers are union members, so the hourly rate is set by the collective agreement. What changes your year is how many hours you get: back-to-back shutdowns with overtime can push well past the top of this range, and a slow year can be far less.