Ironworker salary in California
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Ironworkers in California earn a median of $76,370 a year, or $36.72 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $118,030. That's 22% more than the national median of $62,780, 16th of 50 states and DC.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $22.83/hr
- Jobs in California
- 7,110
- After cost of living
- $68,980
- Median hourly pay
- $36.72/hr
- vs U.S. median
- +22%
- Rank among states
- 16th of 50
- Mean (average) pay
- $80,920 a year · $38.91 an hour
Pay by percentile
What ironworkers in California 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 | $22.83 | $47,480 |
| 25th percentile | $28.47 | $59,220 |
| Median (50th) | $36.72 | $76,370 |
| 75th percentile | $49.99 | $103,980 |
| 90th percentile | $56.75 | $118,030 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
Pay over time
The median ironworker wage in California rose 2.9%, from $74,210 in May 2021 to $76,370 in May 2025. Prices rose 19.4% over the same period, so after inflation it fell 13.8%.
| Year | Median a year | Median an hour |
|---|---|---|
| May 2021 | $74,210 | $35.68/hr |
| May 2022 | $63,440 | $30.50/hr |
| May 2023 | $76,760 | $36.90/hr |
| May 2024 | $72,050 | $34.64/hr |
| May 2025 | $76,370 | $36.72/hr |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, each May release; inflation from the BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, May of each year). BLS cautions against reading much into year-to-year changes, so we compare the first and last years. How we compare years
How California compares
- Ironworkers are less concentrated in California than nationally: 0.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.89 times the U.S. share.
Pay by metro area
Rural California
- North Valley-Northern Mountains Region$61,760
Other trades in California
Bidding federal work? Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates in California list what contractors must pay ironworkers on federal and federally assisted jobs, county by county.
Questions
- Where in California do ironworkers earn the most?
- Among California metro areas, San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara has the highest median at $109,440 a year, and San Luis Obispo–Paso Robles the lowest at $60,080.
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 06. 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 (110.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures