Stationary engineers and boiler operators job market in Minnesota

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Minnesota industry employment tracked close to the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Stationary engineers and boiler operators in Minnesota.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Stationary engineers and boiler operators earn in Minnesota

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$75,850Minnesota
Middle 50% of published wages
$67,310 – $84,640
U.S. median annual wage
$78,620
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Minnesota

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Stationary engineers and boiler operators, compared with the Minnesota median of $75,850.

Minnesota median$75,850
Mankato, MN$78,610+3.6% vs. state
Middle 50%$74,430 – $79,490Published employment40
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI$76,560+0.9% vs. state
Middle 50%$69,870 – $85,660Published employment750
Duluth, MN-WI$75,260−0.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$61,420 – $83,030Published employment80
Grand Forks, ND-MN$74,240−2.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$65,990 – $76,620Published employment30
St. Cloud, MN$73,930−2.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$63,870 – $73,930Published employment60
Rochester, MN$71,670−5.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$62,420 – $82,090Published employment80
View 1 more published metro area
Fargo, ND-MN$66,760−12.0% vs. state
Middle 50%$61,620 – $70,760Published employment60

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Minnesota median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Minnesota’s weighted industry mix.

+0.5%Industry employmentMinnesota industry employmentU.S. +0.5%vs. +0.5% U.S.
+2.7%Establishments in weighted industriesMinnesota establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +3.4%vs. +3.4% U.S.
+4.2%Avg. weekly industry wageMinnesota avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +3.5% · not occupation payvs. +3.5% U.S. · not occupation pay
-0.1 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 62,525 represented establishments, 80.13% of the published industry mix.

Latest interpretation

What stands out for stationary engineers and boiler operators in Minnesota

The clearest signals from the latest validated state industry context and occupation-pay data.

Minnesota is tracking close to the U.S. employment benchmark

Employment across the industries associated with Stationary engineers and boiler operators changed +0.5% year over year in Minnesota, 0.1 percentage points below the national change of +0.5%. This is weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment.

BLS QCEW weighted industry context

Occupation pay is close to the national median

The published median annual wage for Stationary engineers and boiler operators in Minnesota is $75,850, 3.5% below the U.S. median of $78,620.

BLS OEWS occupation pay

Growth is concentrated in one industry group

Private education and health services was the only one of the 6 leading weighted industry groups with published employment growth, at +2.6%.

BLS QCEW weighted industry context

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score.

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • Minnesota · 2026 Q1+0.5%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.5%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Minnesota industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterMinnesotaCoverage
2024 Q2+2.2%100%
2024 Q3+1.8%100%
2024 Q4+2.0%100%
2025 Q1+1.7%100%
2025 Q2+1.5%100%
2025 Q3+1.4%100%
2025 Q4+1.1%100%
2026 Q1+0.5%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Minnesota’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
+0.5%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Stationary engineers and boiler operators Work

The occupation mix determines which Minnesota industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Minnesota Stationary engineers and boiler operators context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Private education and health services36.2%+2.6%31,780$1,323
State and local17.6%-0.2%5,579$1,338
Manufacturing15.7%-0.7%8,466$1,835
Leisure and hospitality6.7%-0.9%16,700$599
Professional and business services5.8%-0.9%43,340$2,451
Federal2.9%-6.1%1,284$2,122

Which industries are growing?

One weighted industry is growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Minnesota employment change are listed.

  • Private education and health services+2.6%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Minnesota context

Current Minnesota Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Minnesota. They are not Stationary engineers and boiler operators demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Minnesota

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

92.4Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
-7.6%Versus the February 2020 baseline
+2.6%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 202690.31
Jul 31, 202689.30
Aug 7, 202688.88
Aug 14, 202689.27
Aug 21, 202689.57
Aug 28, 202689.56
Sep 4, 202688.83
Sep 11, 202689.79
Sep 18, 202690.34
Sep 25, 202690.10
Oct 2, 202690.34
Oct 9, 202691.47
Oct 16, 202692.36
Oct 23, 202692.44

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Stationary engineers and boiler operators in Minnesota FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Stationary engineers and boiler operators in Minnesota?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Minnesota industries weighted to Stationary engineers and boiler operators changed +0.5% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.5% nationwide.

Are wages for Stationary engineers and boiler operators rising in Minnesota?

QCEW does not publish pay for Stationary engineers and boiler operators in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +4.2% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Minnesota industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Stationary engineers and boiler operators openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Stationary engineers and boiler operators
SOC code
51-8021
State
Minnesota
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+0.5%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
+0.5%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
-0.1 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
+2.7%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+4.2%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/stationary-engineers-and-boiler-operators/minnesota#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

Stationary engineers and boiler operators in other states