Sheet Metal Workers in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,066
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$7,574
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,662
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$49,640
Kept after tax
$42,066
Worth in national money
$40,662
State rank
44
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for sheet metal workers is on the low side in Florida. The middle earner gets $49,640. That is 44 of 50 states, and about 19.68% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Sheet metal workers ranks 282 among 493 occupations Florida publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $49,640, tax leaves $42,066 — and because Florida is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $40,662 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $53,120, since top earners drag the number up.
- For sheet metal workers, Florida sits in the lower band at $49,640, ranking 44 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 19.68%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 282 of 493 in Florida places sheet metal workers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After tax, $42,066 remains from the Florida median of $49,640 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $40,662 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $53,120 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Sheet Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,740 |
| This salary | $49,640 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Florida | $42,066 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,066 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,627 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $49,640 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,177 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,640 as a midpoint for Florida, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,140 and the ninetieth is $71,740 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Florida's $42,066, worked from $49,640. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 282 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,662 uses one figure for the whole of Florida. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 282.
- The Florida median of $49,640 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,140 to $71,740. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Florida take-home of $42,066, on $49,640 for work ranking 282 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 282 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,662, worked from $49,640, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Florida address, on work sitting at 282 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $53,120, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,140 at the bottom tenth to $71,740 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Florida costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $40,662 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $42,066 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Florida is $53,120. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,140 to $71,740) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Florida rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $40,662 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $42,066 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.