Insulation recruiters serving Durham-Chapel Hill.
Durham-Chapel Hill has 28% more insulation workers, mechanical per job than the country as a whole, about 70 in the metro. BLS counts 4 business locations of nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors across the metro. Below: local pay for every role we staff, the state licensing rules that apply and the nearby markets competing for the same people.
Positions we recruit for in Durham-Chapel Hill.
BLS counts about 430 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Durham-Chapel Hill metro, the largest group being construction and building inspectors (about 310). Relative to the size of the local economy, insulation workers, mechanical are far more concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 1.28). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the Insulation hub.
Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler)
Durham-Chapel Hill: 70 employed · $49,450 median, 47th-highest of 58 metros
Building Envelope Insulation Installer
Durham-Chapel Hill: BLS does not publish a local figure for this occupation.
Spray Foam Technician
Fireproofing / Firestop Technician
Insulation Foreman / Crew Lead
Durham-Chapel Hill: 1,270 employed · $75,430 median, 84th-highest of 112 metros
Insulation Estimator
Durham-Chapel Hill: 360 employed · $80,800 median, 32nd-highest of 111 metros
Insulation Project Manager
Durham-Chapel Hill: 760 employed · $119,980 median, 36th-highest of 111 metros
Abatement-Certified Insulator
Durham-Chapel Hill: 50 employed · $49,850 median, 30th-highest of 90 metros
Blower / Loose-Fill Insulation Technician
Insulation Inspector / QC Technician
Durham-Chapel Hill: 310 employed · $73,590 median, 50th-highest of 112 metros
What Insulation roles earn in Durham-Chapel Hill.
Insulation workers, mechanical in Durham-Chapel Hill earn a median $49,450, 15% under the $58,340 national figure, and 47th of 58 metros. Pay runs $36,990 at the tenth percentile to $57,020 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is construction and building inspectors, at $73,590 against $74,690 nationally. BLS withholds Durham-Chapel Hill pay for one occupation in the table.
| Role | Durham-Chapel Hill median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler)Insulation Workers, Mechanical (47-2132) | $49,450 | $36,990–$57,020 | $58,340 | −15% | 70 |
| Building Envelope Insulation Installer · Spray Foam Technician · Fireproofing / Firestop TechnicianInsulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall (47-2131) | – | – | $49,120 | – | – |
| Insulation Foreman / Crew LeadFirst-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $75,430 | $48,690–$101,640 | $79,920 | −6% | 1,270 |
| Insulation EstimatorCost Estimators (13-1051) | $80,800 | $43,800–$131,400 | $78,740 | +3% | 360 |
| Insulation Project ManagerConstruction Managers (11-9021) | $119,980 | $77,550–$200,870 | $114,990 | +4% | 760 |
| Abatement-Certified InsulatorHazardous Materials Removal Workers (47-4041) | $49,850 | $40,110–$85,690 | $49,450 | +1% | 50 |
| Insulation Inspector / QC TechnicianConstruction and Building Inspectors (47-4011) | $73,590 | $47,640–$92,190 | $74,690 | −1% | 310 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Durham-Chapel Hill metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile; management and office roles are metro-wide. A metro ranking counts only the metros where BLS publishes that occupation.
How Durham-Chapel Hill's insulation market has changed since 2018.
Durham-Chapel Hill had 4 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in 2023, exactly as many as in 2018. With so few firms, one opening or closing moves that percentage a long way.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: business locations | 4 | 4 | +0% |
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: employment | – | 32 | – |
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: average annual pay | – | $60,412 | – |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Free Insulation hiring resources.
Definitive Guide to Insulation · 2026 Insulation Salary Guide · 3-Step Interview Guide for Insulation
How Durham-Chapel Hill's insulation market compares
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 760 | $44,520 | 1.96 | 54 |
| Raleigh | 480 | $46,030 | 2.24 | 25 |
| Greensboro | 120 | $46,500 | 1.12 | 10 |
| Winston-Salem | – | $37,440 | – | 14 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | – | – | – | 4 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Durham-Chapel Hill metro. Employers are counted by business location.
Insulation licensing in North Carolina.
North Carolina requires a general contractor license for construction projects costing $40,000 or more. The same state rules apply in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Winston-Salem, so candidates licensed there can work in Durham-Chapel Hill without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors. Confirm current rules with the agency.
Nearby markets competing for Durham-Chapel Hill talent.
The closest metro we cover is Raleigh, about 20 miles away. Pay is close across the region: medians run from $47,960 in Greensboro to $49,570 in Charlotte, against $49,450 here. Charlotte has the deepest pool within reach, so a search for senior roles here usually extends there.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham-Chapel Hill | – | 70 | $49,450 |
| Raleigh | 21 mi | – | – |
| Greensboro | 50 mi | 140 | $47,960 |
| Winston-Salem | 75 mi | – | – |
| Charlotte | 121 mi | 430 | $49,570 |
| Richmond | 134 mi | 410 | $49,460 |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Durham-Chapel Hill crews.
Not insulation work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Durham-Chapel Hill in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- AbbVie pharmaceutical manufacturing campus$1.4BConstruction begins 2026, completion by end of 2028
185 acres near Research Triangle Park - small volume parenteral drug manufacturing, next-generation labs, a warehouse, and administrative/wellness facilities. 734 direct jobs over 4 years and 2,000+ construction jobs during buildout.
- Novartis biologics manufacturing investment$771M (across Durham and Wake counties)Multi-year buildout
Two new facilities for biologics manufacturing and sterile packaging, plus an expansion of Novartis' existing Durham facility to add sterile filling of biologics into syringes and vials - about 700 jobs.
- UNC-Chapel Hill Carolina North campus extensionUndisclosedSite prep ahead of a projected summer 2027 groundbreaking
A planned campus extension with initial infrastructure work now underway.
These are the 3 projects we track in Durham-Chapel Hill. The Durham-Chapel Hill market page covers hiring conditions across every trade here.
What credentials matter for insulation, and what kills offers in Durham-Chapel Hill.
The 4 credentials that gate the work and the 3 things that most often end an insulation offer are the same in every market, kept in one place: Insulation credentials and offer risks, each linked to the body that issues it. What is local is the licensing rule above and the pay further up this page.
Frequently asked - Insulation hiring in Durham-Chapel Hill.
What do insulation workers, mechanical earn in Durham-Chapel Hill?
BLS puts the Durham-Chapel Hill median for insulation workers, mechanical at $49,450 a year, 15% below the $58,340 national median. That ranks 47th of 58 metros with published figures, in the bottom quarter. Pay is bunched together here, $36,990 to $57,020 across the 10th to 90th percentile and only a 1.5x gap, so small differences in an offer are noticed. No other North Carolina metro we cover pays more for this work.
Is it hard to hire insulation workers, mechanical in Durham-Chapel Hill?
Not by national standards. Insulation workers, mechanical make up 28% more of the Durham-Chapel Hill workforce than they do nationally, about 70 people. The 4 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors here average about 8.0 employees per location.
Which insulation roles pay the most in Durham-Chapel Hill?
Of the roles we recruit for, Insulation Project Manager pays the most in Durham-Chapel Hill, a $119,980 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Insulation Inspector / QC Technician at $73,590, 39% below it. Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler) is the lowest-paid field role at $49,450. Relative to national pay, Insulation Project Manager is the strongest-paying role here (4% above). Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler) trails national pay the most (15% below).
How many nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors operate in Durham-Chapel Hill?
BLS counted 4 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in Durham-Chapel Hill in 2023, employing about 32 people between them. That is roughly where the count stood in 2018 (4). That averages 8.0 people per location. They pay an average of $60,412, 22% below the $77,107 national average for the same kind of employer.
Which nearby metros compete with Durham-Chapel Hill for insulation workers, mechanical?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Greensboro (50 miles, about 140, $47,960 median), Charlotte (121 miles, about 430, $49,570 median) and Richmond (134 miles, about 410, $49,460 median). Greensboro has the larger pool, so it is the first place to look for senior people willing to move.
Plenty of people. Few of them looking.
Durham-Chapel Hill has one of the deeper pools of insulation workers, mechanical we cover, but the best of them are already working. Let's find the ones ready to move.
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