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Skilled trades in Rhode Island, ranked by pay

Of the 14 trades tracked here, the best paid in Rhode Island is lineworkers at a median $104,620 a year. Across all 14, 19,970 people are employed in Rhode Island. Each row links to the full wage spread for that trade in the state.

#	Trade	Median annual	Median hourly	10th–90th	Employed	vs US	State rank
1	Lineworkers (power-line installers)	$104,620	$50.30	$72,710 – $125,200	120	10% above	#18 of 51
2	Ironworkers	$98,320	$47.27	$65,500 – $98,330	360	57% above	#6 of 50
3	Brickmasons and blockmasons	$79,280	$38.12	$51,900 – $111,180	220	28% above	#9 of 50
4	Plumbers and pipefitters	$76,470	$36.77	$49,680 – $110,360	1,820	20% above	#15 of 51
5	Electricians	$74,090	$35.62	$42,990 – $102,840	2,420	17% above	#18 of 51
6	HVAC technicians	$67,370	$32.39	$38,100 – $104,080	1,450	10% above	#14 of 51
7	Diesel mechanics	$67,270	$32.34	$51,020 – $85,420	350	9% above	#13 of 51
8	Sheet metal workers	$65,100	$31.30	$42,670 – $81,980	370	5% above	#18 of 50
9	Heavy equipment operators	$63,610	$30.58	$52,460 – $98,870	970	6% above	#17 of 51
10	Carpenters	$60,840	$29.25	$47,840 – $89,670	2,580	about the same as	#22 of 51
11	Truck drivers (CDL)	$60,190	$28.94	$45,600 – $75,120	3,620	3% above	#20 of 51
12	Machinists	$57,760	$27.77	$39,720 – $82,400	860	2% below	#35 of 51
13	Auto service technicians	$51,770	$24.89	$31,860 – $80,780	2,530	2% above	#22 of 51
14	Welders	$50,580	$24.32	$35,560 – $81,000	2,300	6% below	#38 of 51

"State rank" is where Rhode Island places on median pay for that trade among the states and DC with a published median; a low number means the state pays well for it. "vs US" compares the Rhode Island median with the national median for the same trade.

Apprenticeships in Rhode Island

Registered apprentices in Rhode Island in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024), under the occupation titles the U.S. Department of Labor maps to each trade, with the median wage apprentices started at and the median at completion in fiscal 2023. A median is shown only where 50 or more apprentices carry the wage. The file's fiscal 2024 records largely stop after February 2024.

Trade	Active, fiscal 2024	Started, fiscal 2023	Median starting wage	Median completing wage
Electricians	642	255	$19.26	$28.00
Plumbers and pipefitters	190	88	$19.56	fewer than 50 wages
Carpenters	90	22	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages
Ironworkers	56	17	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages
HVAC technicians	39	7	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages
Heavy equipment operators	35	14	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages
Sheet metal workers	28	7	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages
Elevator installers	12	1	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages
Brickmasons and blockmasons	10	2	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages
Truck drivers (CDL)	9	14	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages
Lineworkers (power-line installers)	1	0	fewer than 50 wages	fewer than 50 wages

Hourly wages, in the dollars of fiscal 2023; the starters and the completers are different people. Each trade links to its count and wages in every state. What a wage comes to a week and a year, at your hours →

Which of these to consider in Rhode Island

Pay is one input, not the answer. A trade that pays a little less but employs far more people in Rhode Island can be the easier one to get hired and stay hired in. Weigh the median against the employment column, and against the training time and licensing each trade demands. Open a trade to see its full percentile spread and how Rhode Island ranks against every other state.

Full detail by trade

Or compare these trades nationally on the trade ranking, or pick another state from the state list.

No state licensing records are sourced in Rhode Island yet. Every trade page also gives pay by metro area where BLS publishes it and the registered-apprentice count where the U.S. Department of Labor lists an active apprentice. The pay and employment figures here are the May 2025 BLS estimates; see how the numbers are built.