Insulation recruiters serving Raleigh.
BLS counts 25 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 Raleigh.
BLS counts about 2,440 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Raleigh metro, the largest group being construction and building inspectors (about 1,760). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the Insulation hub.
Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler)
Raleigh: BLS does not publish a local figure for this occupation.
Building Envelope Insulation Installer
Raleigh: 480 employed · $46,030 median, 57th-highest of 69 metros
Spray Foam Technician
Fireproofing / Firestop Technician
Insulation Foreman / Crew Lead
Raleigh: 6,080 employed · $77,690 median, 64th-highest of 112 metros
Insulation Estimator
Raleigh: 1,420 employed · $79,230 median, 43rd-highest of 111 metros
Insulation Project Manager
Raleigh: 3,020 employed · $119,700 median, 38th-highest of 111 metros
Abatement-Certified Insulator
Raleigh: 200 employed · $45,410 median, 68th-highest of 90 metros
Blower / Loose-Fill Insulation Technician
Insulation Inspector / QC Technician
Raleigh: 1,760 employed · $67,840 median, 61st-highest of 112 metros
What Insulation roles earn in Raleigh.
BLS publishes no Raleigh pay for insulation workers, mechanical; nationally the median is $58,340. Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall in Raleigh earn a median $46,030, 6% under the $49,120 national figure, and 57th of 69 metros. Pay runs $35,020 at the tenth percentile to $65,100 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is construction and building inspectors, at $67,840 against $74,690 nationally. BLS withholds Raleigh pay for one occupation in the table.
| Role | Raleigh median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler)Insulation Workers, Mechanical (47-2132) | – | – | $58,340 | – | – |
| Building Envelope Insulation Installer · Spray Foam Technician · Fireproofing / Firestop TechnicianInsulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall (47-2131) | $46,030 | $35,020–$65,100 | $49,120 | −6% | 480 |
| Insulation Foreman / Crew LeadFirst-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $77,690 | $55,570–$120,240 | $79,920 | −3% | 6,080 |
| Insulation EstimatorCost Estimators (13-1051) | $79,230 | $38,350–$131,400 | $78,740 | +1% | 1,420 |
| Insulation Project ManagerConstruction Managers (11-9021) | $119,700 | $78,010–$182,990 | $114,990 | +4% | 3,020 |
| Abatement-Certified InsulatorHazardous Materials Removal Workers (47-4041) | $45,410 | $37,570–$54,980 | $49,450 | −8% | 200 |
| Insulation Inspector / QC TechnicianConstruction and Building Inspectors (47-4011) | $67,840 | $46,840–$97,920 | $74,690 | −9% | 1,760 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Raleigh 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 Raleigh's insulation market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in Raleigh rose from 24 in 2018 to 25 in 2023, up 4%, ahead of the 3% national decline. BLS stops short of publishing headcount and pay for them here, which happens when a handful of firms account for most of the work.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: business locations | 24 | 25 | +4% |
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: employment | 905 | – | – |
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: average annual pay | $51,555 | – | – |
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
Raleigh runs 124% 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 Raleigh's insulation market compares
Among the 63 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Raleigh ranks 18th for headcount, 54th for median pay and 3rd for concentration for insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall. That puts it among the deepest insulation labor markets in the country.
| 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.
What this means for hiring:For insulation employers in Raleigh, 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, Raleigh 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, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Durham-Chapel Hill, so candidates licensed there can work in Raleigh without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors. Confirm current rules with the agency.
Nearby markets competing for Raleigh talent.
The closest metro we cover is Durham-Chapel Hill, about 20 miles away, with roughly 70 insulation workers, mechanical. BLS does not publish Raleigh figures for this occupation, so the nearby markets are the best guide: Charlotte has the largest pool within reach, about 430, at a $49,570 median.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | – | – | – |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | 21 mi | 70 | $49,450 |
| Greensboro | 68 mi | 140 | $47,960 |
| Winston-Salem | 93 mi | – | – |
| Charlotte | 130 mi | 430 | $49,570 |
| Richmond | 139 mi | 410 | $49,460 |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Raleigh crews.
Not insulation work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Raleigh in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Novo Nordisk Clayton expansion$4.1BMulti-year buildout
Adds 1.4M sq ft of advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and roughly 1,000 permanent jobs. One of the largest single pharma capital projects in the Southeast, requiring cleanroom-grade mechanical, electrical, and process piping at scale.
- Johnson & Johnson Wilson biologics campus$2BMulti-year
Biologics manufacturing campus adding to the region's life-sciences construction pipeline - cleanroom and process-utility work drawing on the same specialized labor pool as Novo Nordisk and Fujifilm.
- Fujifilm Holly Springs biomanufacturing facility$3.2BMulti-year
A third concurrent mega-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing buildout in the Triangle, compounding demand for cleanroom electricians and process pipefitters across all three projects simultaneously.
Showing 3 of 5 projects tracked in this metro. The Raleigh market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for insulation, and what kills offers in Raleigh.
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 Raleigh.
Which insulation roles pay the most in Raleigh?
Of the roles we recruit for, Insulation Project Manager pays the most in Raleigh, a $119,700 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Insulation Inspector / QC Technician at $67,840, 43% below it. Abatement-Certified Insulator is the lowest-paid field role at $45,410. Relative to national pay, Insulation Project Manager is the strongest-paying role here (4% above). Insulation Inspector / QC Technician trails national pay the most (9% below).
How many nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors operate in Raleigh?
BLS counted 25 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in Raleigh in 2023. Up from 24 in 2018, a 4% increase against 3% decline nationally. BLS withholds their combined headcount and pay here, which it does when a category is small enough that the figures could identify individual employers.
Which nearby metros compete with Raleigh for insulation workers, mechanical?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Durham-Chapel Hill (21 miles, about 70, $49,450 median), Greensboro (68 miles, about 140, $47,960 median) and Charlotte (130 miles, about 430, $49,570 median).
Every hire from zero is a tax on your team.
25 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in Raleigh are hiring from the same local pool. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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