Insulation recruiters serving Scranton.
Insulation workers, mechanical in Scranton earn a $79,470 median, 36% above the national figure, and about 40 of them work 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 Scranton.
BLS counts about 310 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Scranton metro, the largest group being construction and building inspectors (about 210). Relative to the size of the local economy, insulation workers, mechanical are less concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 0.90). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the Insulation hub.
Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler)
Scranton: 40 employed · $79,470 median, 16th-highest of 58 metros
Building Envelope Insulation Installer
Scranton: BLS does not publish a local figure for this occupation.
Spray Foam Technician
Fireproofing / Firestop Technician
Insulation Foreman / Crew Lead
Scranton: 990 employed · $78,660 median, 58th-highest of 112 metros
Insulation Estimator
Scranton: 340 employed · $75,720 median, 75th-highest of 111 metros
Insulation Project Manager
Scranton: 210 employed · $108,500 median, 59th-highest of 111 metros
Abatement-Certified Insulator
Scranton: 60 employed · $44,520 median, 76th-highest of 90 metros
Blower / Loose-Fill Insulation Technician
Insulation Inspector / QC Technician
Scranton: 210 employed · $61,630 median, 95th-highest of 112 metros
What Insulation roles earn in Scranton.
Insulation workers, mechanical in Scranton earn a median $79,470, 36% over the $58,340 national figure, and 16th of 58 metros. Pay runs $43,680 at the tenth percentile to $82,700 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is construction and building inspectors, at $61,630 against $74,690 nationally. BLS withholds Scranton pay for one occupation in the table.
| Role | Scranton median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler)Insulation Workers, Mechanical (47-2132) | $79,470 | $43,680–$82,700 | $58,340 | +36% | 40 |
| 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) | $78,660 | $57,210–$124,990 | $79,920 | −2% | 990 |
| Insulation EstimatorCost Estimators (13-1051) | $75,720 | $51,310–$118,180 | $78,740 | −4% | 340 |
| Insulation Project ManagerConstruction Managers (11-9021) | $108,500 | $76,500–$162,850 | $114,990 | −6% | 210 |
| Abatement-Certified InsulatorHazardous Materials Removal Workers (47-4041) | $44,520 | $35,530–$73,560 | $49,450 | −10% | 60 |
| Insulation Inspector / QC TechnicianConstruction and Building Inspectors (47-4011) | $61,630 | $47,740–$98,540 | $74,690 | −17% | 210 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Scranton 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 Scranton's insulation market has changed since 2018.
Scranton lost nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors between 2018 and 2023, from 10 business locations to 4 (down 60%), behind the 3% national decline. With so few firms, one opening or closing moves that percentage a long way. How many people those 4 locations employ is not published: with a category this small, BLS would effectively be reporting individual employers' payrolls.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: business locations | 10 | 4 | −60% |
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: employment | 97 | – | – |
| Nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors: average annual pay | $57,826 | – | – |
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 Scranton's insulation market compares
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 370 | $50,320 | 0.44 | 105 |
| Pittsburgh | 140 | $47,110 | 0.44 | 29 |
| Lancaster | 60 | $46,640 | 0.84 | 12 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem | 40 | $41,620 | 0.37 | 14 |
| Harrisburg | – | – | – | 9 |
| Scranton | – | – | – | 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, Scranton metro. Employers are counted by business location.
Insulation licensing in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Labor and Industry states plainly that the Commonwealth has no licensure or certification requirement for most construction contractors, so there is no state insulation contractor license. Home improvement contractors must register with the Attorney General under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, which is residential consumer protection and not a trade competency license, and individual municipalities may add their own requirements. Asbestos is the exception and is where the real credential sits: Labor and Industry certifies asbestos workers, supervisors, project designers, building inspectors, management planners and both individual and firm contractors under Act 194 of 1990, and every person entering containment must hold current certification and work for a certified contractor. The same state rules apply in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown-Bethlehem, Harrisburg and Lancaster, so candidates licensed there can work in Scranton without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Certification, Accreditation and Licensing Division, for asbestos occupation and contractor certification under Act 194 of 1990. Confirm current rules with the agency.
We have not closed an insulation search in Scranton 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 Scranton than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- HVAC TechnicianA senior technician across commercial and industrial HVAC and refrigeration.
Nearby markets competing for Scranton talent.
The closest metro we cover is Allentown-Bethlehem, about 55 miles away. Scranton pays more than every metro we cover within reach ($79,470 median), which helps when recruiting people in from Philadelphia at $61,660. New York has the deepest pool within reach, so a search for senior roles here usually extends there.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scranton | – | 40 | $79,470 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem | 56 mi | – | – |
| New York | 99 mi | 1,100 | $70,690 |
| Lancaster | 100 mi | – | – |
| Harrisburg | 101 mi | – | – |
| Philadelphia | 104 mi | 520 | $61,660 |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Scranton crews.
Not insulation work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Scranton in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- AWS data center (Salem Township)Part of a $20B combined AWS Pennsylvania investmentUnder development
One of two Amazon Web Services data centers in the state, with capacity Amazon has not publicly disclosed.
- NorthPoint Development data center campus (Hazle Township)UndisclosedPermit denied Nov 2025, developer appealing
A 15-building data center campus proposed on approximately 1,280 acres. Hazle Township supervisors voted 3-0 to deny the plan; the developer is now pursuing litigation/appeal, so this remains a proposal, not an active project.
- Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center expansion$900MStructural steel complete July 2026; tower opens Q1 2028; renovations through 2030
An 11-story, 600,000 sq ft patient tower increasing capacity from 356 to 500 beds and operating rooms from 12 to 18, plus an expanded emergency department.
These are the 3 projects we track in Scranton. The Scranton market page covers hiring conditions across every trade here.
What credentials matter for insulation, and what kills offers in Scranton.
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 Scranton.
What do insulation workers, mechanical earn in Scranton?
BLS puts the Scranton median for insulation workers, mechanical at $79,470 a year, 36% above the $58,340 national median. That ranks 16th of 58 metros with published figures, in the middle of the pack. Most of the market sits between $43,680 and $82,700, a 1.9x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience. No other Pennsylvania metro we cover pays more for this work.
Is it hard to hire insulation workers, mechanical in Scranton?
It is about average. Insulation workers, mechanical are as common in Scranton as they are nationally (location quotient 0.90), with about 40 in the metro. There are 60% fewer of those firms than in 2018, so experienced people have fewer local employers to move between.
Which insulation roles pay the most in Scranton?
Of the roles we recruit for, Insulation Project Manager pays the most in Scranton, a $108,500 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler) at $79,470, 27% below it. Abatement-Certified Insulator is the lowest-paid field role at $44,520. Relative to national pay, Mechanical Insulator (Pipe/Duct/Boiler) is the strongest-paying role here (36% above). Insulation Inspector / QC Technician trails national pay the most (17% below).
How many nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors operate in Scranton?
BLS counted 4 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in Scranton in 2023. Down from 10 in 2018, a 60% decline 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 Scranton for insulation workers, mechanical?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are New York (99 miles, about 1,100, $70,690 median), Philadelphia (104 miles, about 520, $61,660 median) and Syracuse (116 miles, about 100, $82,950 median). New York has the larger pool, so it is the first place to look for senior people willing to move. Scranton out-pays New York and Philadelphia, an advantage when recruiting from there.
The seat is open. The pipeline should not be.
4 nonresidential drywall and insulation contractors in Scranton are drawing on the same 40 insulation workers, mechanical. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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