Structural Iron and Steel Workers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,975
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$14,875
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,466
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West Virginia — 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
$71,850
Kept after tax
$56,975
Worth in national money
$63,466
State rank
19
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. West Virginia pays structural iron and steel workers around $71,850 at the midpoint, 19 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in West Virginia. It ranks 113 out of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $71,850 you keep $56,975, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $63,466 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $67,180, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For structural iron and steel workers the West Virginia median is $71,850, ranking 19 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within West Virginia, structural iron and steel workers ranks 113 of 473 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for structural iron and steel workers on $71,850 is $56,975. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $63,466 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 $67,180 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,200 |
| This salary | $71,850 |
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 West Virginia | $56,975 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,376 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,364 |
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 | $68,436 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,265 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $71,850 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,620 and the ninetieth is $80,200 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $56,975, worked from $71,850. 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 113 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $63,466, the adjusted value of that $71,850 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 113 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $71,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,620 to $80,200. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The West Virginia take-home of $56,975, on $71,850 for work ranking 113 of 473 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 113 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $63,466 — the adjusted value of that $71,850 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 113 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $67,180, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $50,620 at the tenth percentile, $80,200 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $63,466 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 West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $56,975 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 West Virginia is $67,180. 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 ($50,620 to $80,200) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia'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 $63,466 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 $56,975 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West Virginia 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.