Structural Iron and Steel Workers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,585
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$26,265
25.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,460
Illinois costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Illinois — 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
$101,850
Kept after tax
$75,585
Worth in national money
$76,460
State rank
4
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for structural iron and steel workers. The middle earner takes $101,850, which ranks 4 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 62.23% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 70 out of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $101,850 the take-home is $75,585, which is worth about $76,460 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $98,680, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Illinois ranks 4 of 50 states publishing a median for structural iron and steel workers, at $101,850 — about 62.23% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Illinois, structural iron and steel workers ranks 70 of 494 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for structural iron and steel workers on its $101,850 median: $75,585 retained after tax becomes $76,460 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $98,680 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $124,450 |
| This salary | $101,850 |
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 Illinois | $75,585 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,481 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,361 |
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 | $94,889 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,787 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $101,850 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $64,830 and the ninetieth is $124,450 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $75,585 take-home in Illinois comes from $101,850. 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 70 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $76,460, the adjusted value of that $101,850 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 70 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $101,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $64,830 to $124,450. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $75,585, from $101,850, assumes a single Illinois 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 70 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $76,460 — the adjusted value of that $101,850 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 70 of 494 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 $98,680, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $64,830 at the tenth percentile, $124,450 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Illinois sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $76,460 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Illinois then takes its own share, leaving $75,585.
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 Illinois is $98,680. 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 ($64,830 to $124,450) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Illinois rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Illinois'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 $76,460 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 $75,585 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Illinois 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.