As of June 2026, Boilermakers has an AI-exposure score of 43/100 (Moderate exposure) on the AI-Safe Careers index, blending O*NET tasks, the Anthropic Economic Index, the Penn/OpenAI study, and BLS data. This is an estimate of task exposure, not a prediction of job loss.
Boilermakers
More exposed than 16% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$76,410. About 800 projected openings a year (BLS 2024–34 — growth plus replacement).
Pay & demand figures are US medians (BLS, in USD) — your local figures will differ. Your exposure score applies broadly.
How you compare to similar Construction roles
Your tasks, by AI exposure
No automatable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as augmentable (53%).
- Shape seams, joints, or irregular edges of pressure vessel sections or structural parts to attain specified fit of parts, using cutting torches, hammers, files, or metalworking machines.
- Repair or replace defective pressure vessel parts, such as safety valves or regulators, using torches, jacks, caulking hammers, power saws, threading dies, welding equipment, or metalworking machinery.
- Examine boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, or vats to locate defects, such as leaks, weak spots, or defective sections, so that they can be repaired.
- Assemble large vessels in an on-site fabrication shop prior to installation to ensure proper fit.
- Bell, bead with power hammers, or weld pressure vessel tube ends to ensure leakproof joints.
- Attach rigging and signal crane or hoist operators to lift heavy frame and plate sections or other parts into place.
- Bolt or arc weld pressure vessel structures and parts together, using wrenches or welding equipment.
- Shape or fabricate parts, such as stacks, uptakes, or chutes, to adapt pressure vessels, heat exchangers, or piping to premises, using heavy-metalworking machines such as brakes, rolls, or drill presses.
- Straighten or reshape bent pressure vessel plates or structure parts, using hammers, jacks, or torches.
- Clean pressure vessel equipment, using scrapers, wire brushes, and cleaning solvents.
- Position, align, and secure structural parts or related assemblies to boiler frames, tanks, or vats of pressure vessels, following blueprints.
- Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.
- Lay out plate, sheet steel, or other heavy metal and locate and mark bending and cutting lines, using protractors, compasses, and drawing instruments or templates.
- Inspect assembled vessels or individual components, such as tubes, fittings, valves, controls, or auxiliary mechanisms, to locate any defects.
- Install manholes, handholes, taps, tubes, valves, gauges, or feedwater connections in drums of water tube boilers, using hand tools.
- Locate and mark reference points for columns or plates on boiler foundations, following blueprints and using straightedges, squares, transits, or measuring instruments.
- Install refractory bricks or other heat-resistant materials in fireboxes of pressure vessels.
Safer adjacent roles
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Every task scored with what to do about it · 5–10 safer roles with salary, demand & reachability · skill-gap map · a 30/60/90-day roadmap · plus a résumé & LinkedIn rewrite · PDF.
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