Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,108
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,252
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,436
Iowa costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Iowa — 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
$51,360
Kept after tax
$42,108
Worth in national money
$47,436
State rank
24
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $51,360 at the midpoint, 24 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 284.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $51,360 you keep $42,108, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $47,436 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $53,360, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For structural metal fabricators and fitters the Iowa median is $51,360, ranking 24 of 47 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.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, structural metal fabricators and fitters sits at 284 of 493 — 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.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for structural metal fabricators and fitters on $51,360 is $42,108. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $47,436 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 $53,360 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,850 |
| This salary | $51,360 |
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 Iowa | $42,108 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,448 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,726 |
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 | $49,692 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,296 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,360 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,080 and the ninetieth is $65,850 — 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 Iowa's $42,108, worked from $51,360. 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 284 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,436 uses one figure for the whole of Iowa. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 284.
- The Iowa median of $51,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,080 to $65,850. 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 Iowa take-home of $42,108, on $51,360 for work ranking 284 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 284 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,436, worked from $51,360, 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 Iowa address, on work sitting at 284 of 493 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 $53,360 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $40,080 at the bottom tenth to $65,850 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Iowa is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $47,436 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 Iowa adds its own income tax on top — which is why $42,108 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Iowa is $53,360. 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 ($40,080 to $65,850) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Iowa rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Iowa'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 $47,436 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 $42,108 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Iowa 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.