On the left is a wide shot of the rusty shops of the diamond city market and the right is the player inspecting an aluminum can in first person view.

Where to Get Aluminum in Fallout 4


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Aluminum is a type of metal in Fallout 4 that you can use to craft many things. However, it is needed most for weapons, armor, and structures. To find Aluminum, you will need to search for junk items containing it.

Table Of Contents

    All Junk Items That Give You Aluminum in Fallout 4

    player inspecting an aluminum can and an aluminum tray in their inventory

    Merchant shipments give you the most Aluminum out of all items. However, those can only be bought from certain NPCs. Since these are rare and costly to buy, it is better to seek out Aluminum from junk items. The junk items that contain Aluminum usually have the resource in their name, but not always. Keep an eye out for anything made of greyish metal, as those items are more likely to have Aluminum.

    Pay attention to your carrying capacity while looting, as certain junk items can weigh you down a lot. You are always better off carrying many light items than a few heavy ones when collecting resources.

    ItemAmount of AluminumWeight
    Cake Pan30.5
    Surgical Tray30.5
    Sweeper34
    TV Dinner Tray30.5
    Alarm Clock21
    Aluminum Can20.1
    Aluminum Canister23
    Carlisle Typewriter25
    Coolant Cap21
    Hubcap23
    Inactive Distress Pulser25
    Tweezers10.2
    Applicator10.5
    Cauterizer10.5
    Sensor10.5
    Spanner10.5
    Toy Rocketship10.5
    Tri Tool10.5
    Ear Examiner10.7
    Aluminum Tray11

    For better yields of Aluminum during each of your searches, you should seek out lighter junk items. The best junk items for getting Aluminum are Aluminum Cans, Cake Pans, Surgical Trays, and TV Dinner Trays. These items give you the most Aluminum per weight, so look for them while exploring!

    The Best Locations to Find Aluminum in Fallout 4

    The concourse area inside the institute with a tall glass elevator and the rusty open area with small shops that is the diamond city market.

    There are a few merchants in Fallout 4 that will sell you raw shipments of Aluminum. However, these traders are not common. This means you will have to scavenge most of your Aluminum from junk items. Junk items containing Aluminum are all over the place, though, some spots have more than others.

    • Diamond City Market – If you have more money than time, you should visit Arturo Rodriguez at Commonwealth Weaponry. This shop is located in the market area of Diamond City. You can buy a shipment of 50 raw Aluminum from Arturo for 750 caps.
    • Goodneighbor – Rufus Rubins is a merchant working out of the Rexford Hotel. He will sell you shipments of 25 raw Aluminum for varying prices.
    • Looting Aluminum From Sentry Bots and Assaultrons – These robotic enemies drop between 2 to 4 pieces of raw Aluminum when they are destroyed. They are tough to take down, but energy weapons are very effective against them.
    • The Institute – You will find a lot of Aluminum inside of The Institute, as it has many metal items to loot. There are tons of medical tools and junk items lying around that you can easily pick up.
    • Vault 95 – There are a bunch of Aluminum Cans, Aluminum Trays, as well as TV Dinner Trays in Vault 95. Due to its high number of light junk items, it is a great spot to find all kinds of metals.
    • Fort Hagen Command Center – There is a high number of Aluminum Cans, Aluminum Trays, as well as TV Dinner Trays here as well. Fort Hagen is a big location with tons of junk to loot inside. Furthermore, in the western tunnel exiting this location, there are many junk items that contain Aluminum. It is quite dark in here, so bring a light of some kind to find all of the goods.
    • Corvega Assembly Plant – In and around this location, you will find many Coolant Caps as well as Aluminum Cans. This makes up the bulk of the Aluminum here but there are more bits and pieces of metal as well.
    • Mass Pike Tunnel – Many Aluminum Cans litter this location. As such, you will get a great haul of Aluminum when you visit this spot.
    • Vault 81 – If you find the hidden section of this vault, you will also find a lot of Aluminum. This is because there are a lot of Surgical Trays that were left here following dark experiments.
    • Federal Ration Stockpile – There are many Aluminum Cans on the shelves near the locked-off storage section. It won’t be considered stealing if you loot these, so go nuts.
    • Four Leaf Fishpacking Plant – If you head to the west side of this factory’s interior, you can spot a ton of Aluminum Trays lying around.
    • Medford Memorial Hospital – Hospitals are a great place to find Aluminum, as Surgical Trays in Fallout 4 are made of the stuff. Be sure to check every room for the best yield of this useful metal.

    What Aluminum Is Used for in Fallout 4

    The player upgrading their grey t-45 power armor at a power armor station and looking at the crafting components which require some aluminum.

    The majority of crafting recipes that need Aluminum are explosives like grenades and mines, though there’s more. You will also need a lot of Aluminum for certain power armor upgrades as well as for settlement items. The latter tasks are very general and will need various amounts of Aluminum, but the explosives are more straightforward.

    Crafting RecipeIngredients
    Cryo MineAcid x2
    Adhesive x3
    Aluminum x4
    Circuitry x2
    Nuclear material x2
    Cryogenic GrenadeAcid x3
    Adhesive x3
    Aluminum x3
    Nuclear material x2
    Spring x1
    Fragmentation GrenadeAdhesive x3
    Aluminum x2
    Fertilizer x2
    Oil x3
    Spring x1
    Fragmentation MineAdhesive x3
    Aluminum x3
    Fertilizer x3
    Oil x3
    Steel x2
    HalluciGen Gas GrenadeAdhesive x3
    Aluminum x2
    Fertilizer x1
    Spring x1
    Plasma GrenadeAdhesive x4
    Aluminum x4
    Circuitry x2
    Nuclear material x3
    Spring x1
    Plasma MineAdhesive x4
    Aluminum x5
    Circuitry x3
    Fiber optics x3
    Nuclear material x3
    Pulse GrenadeAdhesive x4
    Aluminum x3
    Circuitry x1
    Nuclear material x2
    Spring x1
    Pulse MineAdhesive x4
    Aluminum x4
    Circuitry x3
    Fiber optics x2
    Nuclear material x3
    Persuasion Grenade (Needs Nuka-World DLC)Adhesive x4
    Aluminum x2
    Fever blossom x4
    Spring x1
    Predator Grenade (Needs Nuka-World DLC)Adhesive x2
    Aluminum x1
    Cave cricket gland x1
    Cloth x4
    Fever blossom x1
    Rad-rat meat x2
    Spring x1