Do ironworkers make more in Tucson or Phoenix?

Phoenix pays more: the median is $54,770 in Tucson and $59,540 in Phoenix, a 8% difference.

Ironworker salary in Tucson, AZ

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the Tucson, AZ area earn a median of $54,770 a year, or $26.33 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $73,470 a year. That's 8% less than the Arizona median of $59,390.

Median yearly pay$54,770

Bottom 10% under$45,320Top 10% over$73,470

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $21.79/hr
Jobs in this area: 230
After cost of living: $56,520
Median hourly pay: $26.33/hr
vs U.S. median: −13%
vs Arizona median: −8%
Mean (average) pay: $58,260 a year · $28.01 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 46060, Tucson, AZ). 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 Tucson, AZ 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.

Percentile	Hourly	Yearly
10th percentile	$21.79	$45,320
25th percentile	$22.48	$46,750
Median (50th)	$26.33	$54,770
75th percentile	$32.19	$66,950
90th percentile	$35.32	$73,470

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

How Tucson, AZ compares

Tucson ranks 2nd of 4 Arizona metro areas for ironworker pay.
Ironworkers are more concentrated in the Tucson area than nationally: 0.6 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.3 times the U.S. share.

Other Arizona metro areas

Other trades in Tucson, AZ

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Lineman Plumber Diesel mechanic Carpenter Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in Tucson or Phoenix?: Phoenix pays more: the median is $54,770 in Tucson and $59,540 in Phoenix, a 8% 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 46060 (Tucson, AZ). 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 (96.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures