Structural Iron and Steel Workers in Arkansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,522
after federal, FICA and Arkansas tax
Tax takes
$7,988
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,374
Arkansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arkansas — 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
$45,510
Kept after tax
$37,522
Worth in national money
$43,374
State rank
50
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Arkansas is among the lower-paying states for structural iron and steel workers. The middle earner takes $45,510, ranking 50 of 50 states — about 27.51% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Arkansas, this sits in the middle: 281 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Arkansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $45,510 you keep $37,522, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,374 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $46,020, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Arkansas ranks 50 of 50 for structural iron and steel workers, with a median of $45,510 — about 27.51% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Structural iron and steel workers ranks 281 of 489 occupations in Arkansas by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Arkansas income tax, retained pay for structural iron and steel workers on $45,510 is $37,522. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,374 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $46,020 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,460 |
| This salary | $45,510 |
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 Arkansas | $37,522 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,747 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,500 |
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 | $43,985 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,233 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Arkansas earn less than $45,510. The published range is $32,430 up to $61,460, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arkansas's $37,522, worked from $45,510. 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 281 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arkansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,374, the adjusted value of that $45,510 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 281 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for structural iron and steel workers in Arkansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,430 to $61,460. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Arkansas take-home of $37,522, on $45,510 for work ranking 281 of 489 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 281 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arkansas, so $43,374 — the adjusted value of that $45,510 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 281 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,430 at the tenth percentile, $61,460 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Arkansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $43,374 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arkansas's own levy, $37,522 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,430 to $61,460) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arkansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Arkansas's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $43,374 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $37,522 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arkansas income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
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.