Structural Iron and Steel Workers in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,244
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$12,586
20.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,347
Michigan costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Michigan — 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
$62,830
Kept after tax
$50,244
Worth in national money
$53,347
State rank
26
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Michigan sits in the middle of the pack for structural iron and steel workers. The median is $62,830, ranking 26 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 210 among 493 occupations Michigan publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $62,830 you keep $50,244 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $53,347 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $63,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan occupies the middle band for structural iron and steel workers: a median of $62,830, ranking 26 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 210 of 493 in Michigan 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.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $50,244 after the full tax stack, from $62,830. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,347 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $63,580 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 | $41,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,150 |
| This salary | $62,830 |
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 Michigan | $50,244 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,664 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$848 |
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 | $59,819 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,025 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Michigan earn less than $62,830. The published range is $41,260 up to $79,150, 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 Michigan's $50,244, worked from $62,830. 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 210 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,347, the adjusted value of that $62,830 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 210 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for structural iron and steel workers in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,260 to $79,150. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Michigan take-home of $50,244, on $62,830 for work ranking 210 of 493 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 210 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $53,347 — the adjusted value of that $62,830 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 210 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $41,260 and the top tenth $79,150, so most people doing this work in Michigan 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 $53,347.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Michigan's own levy, $50,244 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($41,260 to $79,150) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Michigan rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Michigan'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 $53,347 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 $50,244 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Michigan 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.