Stationary engineers and boiler operators job market in Pennsylvania

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

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

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

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 97.31% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Stationary engineers and boiler operators earn in Pennsylvania

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

$72,900Pennsylvania
Middle 50% of published wages
$62,490 – $79,670
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 Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.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 Pennsylvania

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Stationary engineers and boiler operators, compared with the Pennsylvania median of $72,900.

Pennsylvania median$72,900
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD$79,720+9.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$71,300 – $89,150Published employment740
Pittsburgh, PA$73,090+0.3% vs. state
Middle 50%$62,930 – $79,320Published employment410
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ$72,950+0.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$65,320 – $75,350Published employment120
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA$71,910−1.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$62,470 – $78,360Published employment60
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA$71,050−2.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$63,820 – $73,700Published employment70
York-Hanover, PA$64,320−11.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$56,990 – $73,330Published employment60
View 1 more published metro area
Reading, PA$62,560−14.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$48,150 – $67,980Published employment40

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania’s weighted industry mix.

+0.4%Industry employmentPennsylvania industry employmentU.S. +0.5%vs. +0.5% U.S.
+1.3%Establishments in weighted industriesPennsylvania establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +3.4%vs. +3.4% U.S.
+2.9%Avg. weekly industry wagePennsylvania avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +3.5% · not occupation payvs. +3.5% U.S. · not occupation pay
-0.2 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: 119,921 represented establishments, 80.13% of the published industry mix.

Latest interpretation

What stands out for stationary engineers and boiler operators in Pennsylvania

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

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

Employment across the industries associated with Stationary engineers and boiler operators changed +0.4% year over year in Pennsylvania, 0.2 percentage points below the national change of +0.5%. This is weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment.

BLS QCEW weighted industry context

Published occupation pay is below the U.S. median

The published median annual wage for Stationary engineers and boiler operators in Pennsylvania is $72,900, 7.3% below the U.S. median of $78,620.

BLS OEWS occupation pay

3 of 6 leading industry groups are growing

3 of the 6 leading weighted industry groups with published values reported employment growth. Private education and health services was strongest at +1.9%.

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
  • Pennsylvania · 2026 Q1+0.4%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.5%

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

View every published value
Quarterly Pennsylvania industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterPennsylvaniaCoverage
2024 Q2+1.9%100%
2024 Q3+1.9%100%
2024 Q4+1.6%100%
2025 Q1+1.3%100%
2025 Q2+1.1%100%
2025 Q3+0.9%100%
2025 Q4+0.7%100%
2026 Q1+0.4%97.31%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Pennsylvania’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 Pennsylvania industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Pennsylvania Stationary engineers and boiler operators context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Private education and health services36.2%+1.9%59,621$1,294
State and local17.6%+0.3%10,459$1,356
Manufacturing15.7%-1.3%14,641$1,643
Leisure and hospitality6.7%+1.0%35,200$564
Professional and business services5.8%-0.5%83,388$2,370
Federal2.9%-7.8%2,664$2,141

Which industries are growing?

3 weighted industries are growing

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

  • Private education and health services+1.9%
  • Leisure and hospitality+1.0%
  • State and local+0.3%

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

Current Pennsylvania context

Current Pennsylvania Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Pennsylvania. 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 · Pennsylvania

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

98.3Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
-1.7%Versus the February 2020 baseline
-0.5%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, 202698.11
Jul 31, 202697.59
Aug 7, 202697.16
Aug 14, 202697.19
Aug 21, 202697.51
Aug 28, 202697.55
Sep 4, 202697.44
Sep 11, 202697.87
Sep 18, 202698.49
Sep 25, 202698.87
Oct 2, 202699.45
Oct 9, 202699.93
Oct 16, 202699.14
Oct 23, 202698.33

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

Statewide layoff notices

Monthly WARN notices in Pennsylvania

Monthly measurement

Month received in the official state listing. Exact notice days are not published. Effective layoff dates are not used as notice dates.

Latest three completed calendar months
MonthNotice entries
Aug 20269
Sep 20266
Oct 20267
Three-month total22

Nov 2026: not listed in the source — unavailable, not zero; excluded from the total.

Counts describe published notice entries, not unique employers or confirmed job losses. Explicit revisions are excluded as new notices. Missing months remain unavailable; source revisions may change counts.

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry

Source last checked . This check does not certify a newly published report.

Career context

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

Questions answered by this release

Stationary engineers and boiler operators in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Pennsylvania industries weighted to Stationary engineers and boiler operators changed +0.4% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.5% nationwide.

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

QCEW does not publish pay for Stationary engineers and boiler operators in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.9% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Pennsylvania industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 97.31% 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 97.31% · 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
Pennsylvania
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+0.4%State data coverage 97.31%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
+0.5%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
-0.2 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
+1.3%State data coverage 97.31%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+2.9%State data coverage 97.31%
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/pennsylvania#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