Structural Iron and Steel Workers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,779
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$8,971
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,644
Tennessee costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Tennessee — 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
$56,750
Kept after tax
$47,779
Worth in national money
$51,644
State rank
39
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for structural iron and steel workers. The middle earner takes $56,750, ranking 39 of 50 states — about 9.6% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Structural iron and steel workers ranks 237 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $56,750 you keep $47,779, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $51,644 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $58,090, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 39 of 50 for structural iron and steel workers, with a median of $56,750 — about 9.6% 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.
- Position 237 of 491 in Tennessee 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.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for structural iron and steel workers on $56,750 is $47,779. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $51,644 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $58,090 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,700 |
| This salary | $56,750 |
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 Tennessee | $47,779 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,779 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,477 |
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 | $56,750 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,995 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
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 Tennessee earn under $56,750 and half over. The published range runs $44,500 at the tenth percentile to $74,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $47,779 take-home in Tennessee comes from $56,750. 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 237 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,644 uses one figure for the whole of Tennessee. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 237.
- Figures are distribution medians for structural iron and steel workers in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,500 to $74,700; 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.
- Retained pay of $47,779, from $56,750, assumes a single Tennessee 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 237 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,644, worked from $56,750, 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 Tennessee address, on work sitting at 237 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $44,500 and the top tenth $74,700, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Tennessee is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $51,644 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $47,779 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 ($44,500 to $74,700) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Tennessee rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Tennessee'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 $51,644 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $47,779 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.