Insulation recruiters serving Portland.
Insulation workers, mechanical in Portland earn a $126,750 median, 117% above the national figure, and about 120 of them work in the metro. BLS counts 44 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 Portland.
BLS counts about 2,610 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Portland metro, the largest group being construction and building inspectors (about 1,200). Relative to the size of the local economy, insulation workers, mechanical are far less concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 0.59). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the Insulation hub.
Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler)
Portland: 120 employed · $126,750 median, 2nd-highest of 58 metros
Building Envelope Insulation Installer
Portland: 450 employed · $60,960 median, 9th-highest of 69 metros
Spray Foam Technician
Fireproofing / Firestop Technician
Insulation Foreman / Crew Lead
Portland: 5,880 employed · $112,480 median, 4th-highest of 112 metros
Insulation Estimator
Portland: 2,260 employed · $83,800 median, 15th-highest of 111 metros
Insulation Project Manager
Portland: 2,690 employed · $146,740 median, 6th-highest of 111 metros
Abatement-Certified Insulator
Portland: 840 employed · $49,950 median, 28th-highest of 90 metros
Blower / Loose-Fill Insulation Technician
Insulation Inspector / QC Technician
Portland: 1,200 employed · $93,340 median, 12th-highest of 112 metros
Hiring the same trade in another market? We recruit it in Ogden, UT too.
What Insulation roles earn in Portland.
Insulation workers, mechanical in Portland earn a median $126,750, 117% over the $58,340 national figure, and 2nd of 58 metros. Pay runs $67,940 at the tenth percentile to $129,780 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is construction and building inspectors, at $93,340 against $74,690 nationally.
| Role | Portland median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler)Insulation Workers, Mechanical (47-2132) | $126,750 | $67,940–$129,780 | $58,340 | +117% | 120 |
| Building Envelope Insulation Installer · Spray Foam Technician · Fireproofing / Firestop TechnicianInsulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall (47-2131) | $60,960 | $37,350–$98,680 | $49,120 | +24% | 450 |
| Insulation Foreman / Crew LeadFirst-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $112,480 | $71,750–$159,920 | $79,920 | +41% | 5,880 |
| Insulation EstimatorCost Estimators (13-1051) | $83,800 | $53,380–$141,340 | $78,740 | +6% | 2,260 |
| Insulation Project ManagerConstruction Managers (11-9021) | $146,740 | $88,500–$217,570 | $114,990 | +28% | 2,690 |
| Abatement-Certified InsulatorHazardous Materials Removal Workers (47-4041) | $49,950 | $44,220–$63,820 | $49,450 | +1% | 840 |
| Insulation Inspector / QC TechnicianConstruction and Building Inspectors (47-4011) | $93,340 | $64,600–$123,780 | $74,690 | +25% | 1,200 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Portland 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 Portland's insulation market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in Portland rose from 41 in 2018 to 44 in 2023, up 7%, ahead of the 3% national decline. Headcount at those firms went down 4%, to about 1,899 people, so more firms are sharing fewer workers. Average annual pay there went from $74,866 to $86,676 (+16%), slower than the 21% national increase.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: business locations | 41 | 44 | +7% |
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: employment | 1,968 | 1,899 | −4% |
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: average annual pay | $74,866 | $86,676 | +16% |
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
Portland runs 30% more insulation workers per job than the country as a whole — well above the national concentration. More per job means more people to reach, and more employers reaching them.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall (nearest published occupation for this trade). Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Portland's insulation market compares
Among the 63 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Portland ranks 20th for headcount, 9th for median pay and 22nd for concentration for insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall. Pay here is among the highest we see, so offers need to start near the top of the range.
What this means for hiring:For insulation employers in Portland, the local pool is deeper than most, so a well-run search can usually fill field roles from inside the metro.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Portland metro. Employers are counted by business location.
Insulation licensing in Oregon.
Oregon licenses commercial contractors, with separate Commercial General Contractor and Commercial Specialty Contractor license levels. The Portland metro crosses a state line, so check the rules in the neighboring state too for crews that work on both sides.
Licensing authority: Oregon Construction Contractors Board. Confirm current rules with the agency.
We have not closed an insulation search in Portland yet. Here is what we have closed.
These are other trades in the same market. We would rather show you the searches we have actually run in Portland than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- Site SuperintendentTwenty years of construction and six as a superintendent, placed onto Portland-Vancouver jobsites in two weeks.
- Lead Fire Alarm TechnicianSeven weeks for an NFPA-licensed lead fire alarm technician - the right length for a life-safety role.
What else is competing for Portland crews.
Not insulation work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Portland in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Semiconductor manufacturing, Washington CountyMulti-billion, CHIPS-supportedRolling through 2030
The Silicon Forest fab corridor in Hillsboro is the defining industrial employer in this metro. Cleanroom mechanical, process piping, high-purity welding, and controls work - the highest-paying trades work in Oregon and a skill set with very few qualified local candidates.
- OHSU campus expansionPhased capital programVista Pavilion opening; further phases through 2029
Academic medical construction on a constrained hillside site. Med-gas plumbers, ICRA-trained mechanical crews, and superintendents who can run vertical work with near-zero laydown space.
- Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (I-5 Columbia River)$13.6B total program cost (as of Jan 2026 estimate; up from $5.5-7.5B in Dec 2022), including a $1.49B federal investmentDesign and early construction through the 2030s
Replaces the I-5 Columbia River crossing with a seismically resilient multimodal structure carrying light rail and bus rapid transit. The largest bi-state heavy civil program in the Northwest - marine, structural, and systems trades on a decade-long horizon.
Showing 3 of 6 projects tracked in this metro. The Portland market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for insulation, and what kills offers in Portland.
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 Portland.
What do insulation workers, mechanical earn in Portland?
BLS puts the Portland median for insulation workers, mechanical at $126,750 a year, 117% above the $58,340 national median. That ranks 2nd of 58 metros with published figures, in the top quarter. Most of the market sits between $67,940 and $129,780, a 1.9x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience.
Is it hard to hire insulation workers, mechanical in Portland?
Yes. Portland has 41% fewer insulation workers, mechanical per job than the country as a whole, roughly 120 in the metro, so most of the people worth hiring are already employed. The 44 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors here average about 43 employees per location, which means a handful of large operators set the pace on pay.
Which insulation roles pay the most in Portland?
Of the roles we recruit for, Insulation Project Manager pays the most in Portland, a $146,740 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler) at $126,750, 14% below it. Abatement-Certified Insulator is the lowest-paid field role at $49,950. Relative to national pay, Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler) is the strongest-paying role here (117% above).
How many nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors operate in Portland?
BLS counted 44 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in Portland in 2023, employing about 1,899 people between them. Up from 41 in 2018, a 7% increase against 3% decline nationally. That averages 43 people per location, so a few large operators dominate hiring. They pay an average of $86,676, 12% above the $77,107 national average for the same kind of employer.
Can Portland employers recruit insulation workers, mechanical from nearby metros?
Not easily. None of the other metros we cover within 300 miles of Portland has published BLS figures for insulation workers, mechanical, so a search here mostly has to be won locally or by relocating someone from farther away.
Thin market. Short list anyway.
With insulation workers, mechanical this scarce in Portland, an open seat rarely fills from a job posting. Let's line up the people before the next one opens.
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