TradeSalary

Ironworker salary in Bakersfield, CA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the Bakersfield–Delano, CA area earn a median of $70,400 a year, or $33.85 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $97,770. That's 8% less than the California median of $76,370.

Median yearly pay$70,400
Bottom 10% under$46,650Top 10% over$97,770
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$22.43/hr
Jobs in this area
120
After cost of living
$69,780
Median hourly pay
$33.85/hr
vs U.S. median
+12%
vs California median
−8%
Mean (average) pay
$71,000 a year · $34.13 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 12540, Bakersfield-Delano, CA). 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 Bakersfield, CA 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$22.43$46,650
25th percentile$27.56$57,320
Median (50th)$33.85$70,400
75th percentile$43.61$90,700
90th percentile$47.01$97,770

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

How Bakersfield, CA compares

  • Bakersfield ranks 13th of 15 California metro areas for ironworker pay.
  • Ironworkers are less concentrated in the Bakersfield area than nationally: 0.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.80 times the U.S. share.

Other California metro areas

Other trades in Bakersfield, CA

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in Bakersfield or San Francisco?
San Francisco pays more: the median is $70,400 in Bakersfield and $87,340 in San Francisco, a 19% 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 12540 (Bakersfield-Delano, CA). 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 (100.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures