Structural Iron and Steel Workers in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,007
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$15,743
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,354
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$72,750
Kept after tax
$57,007
Worth in national money
$62,354
State rank
18
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Idaho sits in the middle of the pack for structural iron and steel workers. The median is $72,750, ranking 18 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Structural iron and steel workers ranks 130 among 476 occupations Idaho publishes pay for.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $72,750 the take-home is $57,007; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $62,354 would nationally. The average lands at $68,020, below the middle of the range.
- Idaho occupies the middle band for structural iron and steel workers: a median of $72,750, ranking 18 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.
- Position 130 of 476 in Idaho places structural iron and steel 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.
- Post-tax income for structural iron and steel workers in Idaho, on $72,750, is $57,007 — equivalent to $62,354 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $68,020 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,140 |
| This salary | $72,750 |
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 Idaho | $57,007 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,010 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$600 |
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 | $68,482 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$829 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of structural iron and steel workers in Idaho earn under $72,750 and half over. The published range runs $49,780 at the tenth percentile to $80,140 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $57,007 take-home in Idaho comes from $72,750. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 130 of 476.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $62,354 uses one figure for the whole of Idaho. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 476 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 130.
- Figures are distribution medians for structural iron and steel workers in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,780 to $80,140; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $57,007, from $72,750, assumes a single Idaho filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 130 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $62,354, worked from $72,750, 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 Idaho address, on work sitting at 130 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $68,020, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $49,780 and the top tenth $80,140, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $62,354 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Idaho adds its own income tax on top — which is why $57,007 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Idaho is $68,020. 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 ($49,780 to $80,140) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $62,354 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 $57,007 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.