Structural Iron and Steel Workers in New Jersey

A hard hat, safety glasses and tool belt beside timber house framing.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$83,458

after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax

Tax takes

$29,762

26.3% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$76,649

New Jersey costs more than average

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

$113,220

Kept after tax

$83,458

Worth in national money

$76,649

State rank

2

of 50 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • New Jersey is one of the better-paying states for structural iron and steel workers. The middle earner takes $113,220, which ranks 2 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 80.34% above the national middle.
  • Locally, this pays well. Among 490 occupations New Jersey reports, structural iron and steel workers comes in at 73 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
  • The wage here flatters the reality. From $113,220 the take-home is $83,458. But New Jersey costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $76,649 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $112,660, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
  • New Jersey ranks 2 of 50 states publishing a median for structural iron and steel workers, at $113,220 — about 80.34% 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.
  • Structural iron and steel workers ranks 73 of 490 occupations by median in New Jersey, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
  • Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Jersey income tax is $83,458 for structural iron and steel workers, from $113,220. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $76,649. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $112,660 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$94,000
Half earn under$113,220
Top tenth earn over$130,710
This salary$113,220

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

Compare with
+$5,022take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in New Jersey$83,458
Take-home in Texas$88,480
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$14,403

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

Moving to
$0now · $113,220$93,325
$93,325in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$106,081
You could take a cut of−$19,895
Prices in Texas97 vs 109

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 New Jersey earn under $113,220 and half over. The published range runs $94,000 at the tenth percentile to $130,710 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 New Jersey's $83,458, worked from $113,220. 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 73 of 490.
  • One number stands for prices across all of New Jersey, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $76,649, the adjusted value of that $113,220 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 73 of 490 in the state.
  • Figures are distribution medians for structural iron and steel workers in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $94,000 to $130,710; 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 New Jersey take-home of $83,458, on $113,220 for work ranking 73 of 490 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 73 of 490 in the state.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Jersey, so $76,649 — the adjusted value of that $113,220 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 73 of 490 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $94,000 and the top tenth $130,710, so most people doing this work in New Jersey sit within a fairly tight band.

Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?

A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $76,649 of national purchasing power.

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 New Jersey adds its own income tax on top — which is why $83,458 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.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($94,000 to $130,710) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Jersey rather than a national figure.

How does the state price level affect real compensation?

New Jersey's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $76,649 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.

What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?

Take-home of $83,458 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New Jersey 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.