TradeSalary

Ironworker salary in Tuscaloosa, AL

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the Tuscaloosa, AL area earn a median of $59,230 a year, or $28.48 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $68,610. Across all of Alabama, the median is $56,640, so Tuscaloosa pays 5% more than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$59,230
Bottom 10% under$46,030Top 10% over$68,610
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$22.13/hr
Jobs in this area
100
After cost of living
$67,520
Median hourly pay
$28.48/hr
vs U.S. median
−6%
vs Alabama median
+5%
Mean (average) pay
$57,150 a year · $27.48 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 46220, Tuscaloosa, AL). Excludes self-employed ironworkers. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What ironworkers in Tuscaloosa, AL earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$22.13$46,030
25th percentile$23.87$49,660
Median (50th)$28.48$59,230
75th percentile$29.77$61,910
90th percentile$32.99$68,610

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Tuscaloosa, AL compares

  • Tuscaloosa ranks 2nd of 4 Alabama metro areas for ironworker pay.
  • Ironworkers are more concentrated in the Tuscaloosa area than nationally: 0.9 of every 1,000 jobs, 2.0 times the U.S. share.

Other Alabama metro areas

Other trades in Tuscaloosa, AL

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in Tuscaloosa or Florence?
Florence pays more: the median is $59,230 in Tuscaloosa and $69,530 in Florence, a 15% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 47-2221 (Structural Iron and Steel Workers), area code 46220 (Tuscaloosa, AL). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed ironworkers and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (87.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures