Structural Iron and Steel Workers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,573
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$13,257
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,905
Louisiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Louisiana — 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
$68,830
Kept after tax
$55,573
Worth in national money
$62,905
State rank
22
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Louisiana is 22 of 50 states for structural iron and steel workers, with a middle wage of $68,830. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Louisiana reports figures for, this is number 132.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $68,830 the take-home is $55,573; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $62,905 would nationally. The average lands at $62,830, below the middle of the range.
- Louisiana ranks 22 of 50 for structural iron and steel workers at $68,830. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Louisiana's occupational distribution, structural iron and steel workers sits at 132 of 484 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for structural iron and steel workers in Louisiana, on $68,830, is $55,573 — equivalent to $62,905 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 $62,830 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 | $39,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $68,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,560 |
| This salary | $68,830 |
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 Louisiana | $55,573 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,252 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,989 |
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 | $66,451 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,509 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Louisiana earn less than $68,830. The published range is $39,130 up to $80,560, 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 Louisiana's $55,573, worked from $68,830. 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 132 of 484.
- Two cautions on $62,905, the adjusted value of that $68,830 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Louisiana. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 132 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for structural iron and steel workers in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,130 to $80,560. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Louisiana take-home of $55,573, on $68,830 for work ranking 132 of 484 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 132 of 484 in the state.
- This $62,905 adjusted figure, worked from $68,830, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 132 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 132 of 484 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 $62,830, 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 $39,130 and the top tenth $80,560, so most people doing this work in Louisiana sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $62,905.
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; Louisiana then takes its own share, leaving $55,573.
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 Louisiana is $62,830. 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 ($39,130 to $80,560) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Louisiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Louisiana'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 $62,905 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 $55,573 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Louisiana 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.