Structural Iron and Steel Workers in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,852
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$12,388
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,089
District of Columbia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in District of Columbia — 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
$61,240
Kept after tax
$48,852
Worth in national money
$44,089
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia sits in the middle of the pack for structural iron and steel workers. The median is $61,240, ranking 30 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in District of Columbia, this sits in the middle: 273 of 390 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $61,240, tax leaves $48,852 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $44,089 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $69,290, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia occupies the middle band for structural iron and steel workers: a median of $61,240, ranking 30 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Structural iron and steel workers ranks 273 of 390 occupations in District of Columbia 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 tax, $48,852 remains from the District of Columbia median of $61,240 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $44,089 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $69,290 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,070 |
| This salary | $61,240 |
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 District of Columbia | $48,852 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,386 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,791 |
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 | $58,086 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,632 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,240 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,130 and the ninetieth is $93,070 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $48,852, from $61,240, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 273 of 390 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,089 uses one figure for the whole of District of Columbia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 390 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 273.
- The District of Columbia median of $61,240 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,130 to $93,070. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,852 from $61,240. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 273 of 390 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,089, worked from $61,240, 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 District of Columbia address, on work sitting at 273 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $69,290, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $58,130 at the tenth percentile, $93,070 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in District of Columbia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $44,089 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; District of Columbia then takes its own share, leaving $48,852.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 District of Columbia is $69,290. 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 ($58,130 to $93,070) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to District of Columbia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
District of Columbia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $44,089 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $48,852 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and District of Columbia 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.