Structural Iron and Steel Workers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,948
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$12,802
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,411
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$61,750
Kept after tax
$48,948
Worth in national money
$50,411
State rank
29
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 29 of 50 states for structural iron and steel workers, with a middle wage of $61,750. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 221.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $61,750, take-home of $48,948 is worth roughly $50,411 in national money. The average comes to $64,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 29 of 50 for structural iron and steel workers at $61,750. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, structural iron and steel workers sits at 221 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.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for structural iron and steel workers, whose median is $61,750, the adjusted figure of $50,411 differs little from $48,948 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $64,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,840 |
| This salary | $61,750 |
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 Maine | $48,948 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,796 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,890 |
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 | $58,205 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,496 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
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 Maine earn under $61,750 and half over. The published range runs $45,660 at the tenth percentile to $86,840 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maine's $48,948, worked from $61,750. 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 221 of 484.
- Two cautions on $50,411, the adjusted value of that $61,750 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 221 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for structural iron and steel workers in Maine, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,660 to $86,840; 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.
- The Maine take-home of $48,948, on $61,750 for work ranking 221 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 221 of 484 in the state.
- This $50,411 adjusted figure, worked from $61,750, 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 221 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 221 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $64,350 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $45,660 at the bottom tenth to $86,840 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $50,411.
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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $48,948.
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 Maine is $64,350. 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 ($45,660 to $86,840) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $50,411 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 $48,948 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.