Updated October 16, 2026

PERM occupation, SOC 47-2211.00, #731 of 1,410 by filings

Sheet Metal Workers

1 H-1B LCAs

Biggest sponsor: BUILT RITE BUILDINGS · 36% of its filings
Busiest state: MO · 36% of its filings
Major group: Construction and extraction · SOC 47

Weighing an offer for this job?

Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.

Compare my offer DOL's wage levels for this job

Too few cases for a rate

14 decided filings: too few for an approval rate.

Why

Across every PERM case DOL decided in this window, 3.20% were denied. At that rate a file this size comes back clean most of the time whatever the occupation did, so a percentage would be a fact about how few cases there are. Telling a clean record apart from the field takes about 117 decided cases.

Median wage

$43,618

all PERM $103,272

Filings

#731 of 1,410

Approval

Not shown

withheld: 14 decided

Median days

505

28 slower than the field

What it pays

Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.

Position in the field 535 occupations with 30+ decided

Median offered wage

$43,618median of 14 filings, too few decided to rank

$18k $500k

Approval rate

not shownunder 30 decided

49% 100%

Median days to decision

505 daysmiddle of 14 decided, too few to rank

323d 536d

Each bar counts occupations at that value. More

Each bar counts occupations at that value. PERM runs two labour markets through one process, which is why the wage axis is two humps rather than a bell. This occupation has 14 decided cases, so its wage and its median days are marked but left unranked, and no approval rate is drawn at all.

DOL PERM disclosure files

Who files it

The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.

Sponsors filing it

BUILT RITE BUILDINGS 5 filings
Dakota Storage Buildings, LLC 2 filings
A PROFESSIONAL AVIATION SERVICES CORP 1 filings
AVM Sheet Metal, Inc. 1 filings
GRATIA CONTRACTORS LLC 1 filings
LONG BAY COOLING, LLC 1 filings

How this is counted

The employers with the most applications under this code. 11 of 14 filings, 79% of the total.

Firms filing it

PETERS CONSULTING 5 filings
Davis & Goldfarb, PLLC 2 filings
Lopes Law PLLC 1 filings
Montagut and Sobral PC 1 filings
Murthy Law Firm 1 filings
NABLILAW, LLC 1 filings

How this is counted

The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 11 of 14 filings, 79% of the total.

Where the jobs are

Missouri 5
South Dakota 2
Florida 1
Maryland 1
New Jersey 1
New York 1

How this is counted

The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 11 of 14 filings.

Where the work is

Weatherby, MO 5
Milbank, SD 2
Beltsville, MD 1
East Orange, NJ 1
Manassas, VA 1
Miami, FL 1

How this is counted

The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 11 of 14 filings.

Newspapers it advertised in

ST JOSEPH NEWS PRESS

5 cases
The Washington Post

2 cases
Watertown Public Opinion (Saturday)

2 cases
Hiring NJ

1 cases
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

1 cases
Miami Herald

1 cases

How this is counted

The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.

Additional steps it used

Job search websites

1 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers

1 cases
Radio or TV ads

1 cases

How this is counted

The steps a professional job needs beyond the job order and the ads, by the number of cases that name each.

How long before filing it began

Under 30 days

0.0%
30 to 59 days

0.0%
60 to 89 days

29%
90 to 119 days

14%
120 to 149 days

7.1%
150 to 180 days

50%
Over 180 days

0.0%

How this is counted

Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.

Where every PERM employer recruits

The job itself

What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.

What the job pays outside PERM BLS May 2025, DOL wage year 2026-27

United States
119,770 jobs
East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area
Milbank
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Beltsville, Manassas
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
East Orange
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Miami

$50k$100k

middle half of pay (BLS)
median
10th to 90th percentile
DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
median PERM offer

Market pay and DOL wage levels, by area
Area	BLS median	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
United States	$61,800
East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area	$48,360	$38,813	$45,635	$52,478	$59,301
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$61,270	$45,947	$54,434	$62,920	$71,406
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$76,730	$47,549	$65,874	$84,198	$102,523
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$51,700	$40,643	$48,443	$56,222	$64,022

How these figures fit together

BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.

The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; DOL OFLC wage tables

DOL's levels for this job in East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area, year by year

Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.

DOL wage levels by wage year, East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area
Wage year	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
2026-27	$38,813	$45,635	$52,478	$59,301
2025-26	$38,979	$45,115	$51,230	$57,366
2024-25	$34,861	$40,373	$45,885	$51,397
2023-24	$34,486	$39,645	$44,803	$49,962
2022-23	$34,507	$42,640	$50,752	$58,885
2021-22	$39,125	$45,552	$51,958	$58,386

Every area and both wage tables in the wage-level tool.

What the job is

Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.

Preparation: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed; O*NET Job Zone 1-2
DOL's education basis: High school diploma or equivalent; Wage year 2026-27
Jobs, 2025 to 2035: +2.5%; About 9,800 openings a year (BLS)
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent; BLS

The work, most important first

Maintain equipment, making repairs or modifications when necessary.
Fabricate ducts for high efficiency heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to maximize efficiency of systems.
Fasten seams or joints together with welds, bolts, cement, rivets, solder, caulks, metal drive clips, or bonds to assemble components into products or to repair sheet metal items.
Transport prefabricated parts to construction sites for assembly and installation.
Install assemblies, such as flashing, pipes, tubes, heating and air conditioning ducts, furnace casings, rain gutters, or downspouts in supportive frameworks.
Hire, train, or supervise new employees or apprentices.

The education workers in it report

Less than a High School Diploma

7%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)

49%
Post-Secondary Certificate

44%

Titles people use for it

HVAC Sheet Metal Installer (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Sheet Metal Installer), Sheet Metal Fabricator, Sheet Metal Mechanic, Sheet Metal Worker, Commercial Sheet Metal Service Installer, Field Installer, HVAC Sheet Metal Specialist (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Sheet Metal Specialist), Sheet Metal Installer.

This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Against other jobs

Where this sits in the ranking

Ranked 731 of 1,410 by volume: 730 filed at least as many filings, and 679 filed no more.

Just above: Industrial-Organizational Psychologists 14 filings
Just below: Gem and Diamond Workers 14 filings

Other construction and extraction roles

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.

The same job on H-1B

1 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $90,000 a year; the middle half ran $90,000 to $90,000. By state and year in the salary explorer.

Notes on these numbers

Reading the wage

A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.

What the median is

The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.

What these numbers don't say

4 notes

The code is the identity: This one is SOC 47-2211.00. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
A median isn’t an offer: It's the middle of all 14 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
Approval isn’t about the occupation: The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Sheet Metal Workers. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
Nothing here is pending: All 14 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is BUILT RITE BUILDINGS. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.

The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built

Weighing an offer?

Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.

Setting one?

All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.

Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.

Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly

Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load

O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year

BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring

BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn

DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july

What each source includes

Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.

Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.

O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.

BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.

BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.

DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.

Cite this page

Waiting on a PERM case?

When it'll likely be decided
An email when DOL moves it