Structural Iron and Steel Workers in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,831
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$8,829
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,983
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$47,660
Kept after tax
$38,831
Worth in national money
$43,983
State rank
48
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oklahoma is among the lower-paying states for structural iron and steel workers. The middle earner takes $47,660, ranking 48 of 50 states — about 24.08% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Oklahoma reports figures for, this is number 291.
- Oklahoma is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $47,660 the take-home is $38,831; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $43,983 would nationally. The average comes to $51,200, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Oklahoma ranks 48 of 50 for structural iron and steel workers, with a median of $47,660 — about 24.08% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Oklahoma's occupational distribution, structural iron and steel workers sits at 291 of 492 — 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 Oklahoma, on $47,660, is $38,831 — equivalent to $43,983 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 $51,200 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 | $37,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,670 |
| This salary | $47,660 |
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 Oklahoma | $38,831 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,475 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,331 |
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 | $45,614 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,819 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,660 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,790 and the ninetieth is $63,670 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $38,831 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $47,660. 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 291 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,983 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 291.
- The Oklahoma median of $47,660 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,790 to $63,670. 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 $38,831, from $47,660, assumes a single Oklahoma 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 291 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,983, worked from $47,660, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 291 of 492 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 $51,200 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,790 and the top tenth $63,670, so most people doing this work in Oklahoma sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,983 in national terms.
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 Oklahoma adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,831 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
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 Oklahoma is $51,200. 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 ($37,790 to $63,670) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $43,983 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 $38,831 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.