Ironworker salary in Rockford, IL
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Ironworkers in the Rockford, IL area earn a median of $100,290 a year, or $48.22 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $114,730. Across all of Illinois, the median is $101,850, so Rockford pays 2% less than the state as a whole.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $28.94/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 190
- After cost of living
- $108,830
- Median hourly pay
- $48.22/hr
- vs U.S. median
- +60%
- vs Illinois median
- −2%
- Mean (average) pay
- $92,900 a year · $44.66 an hour
Pay by percentile
What ironworkers in Rockford, IL 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 | $28.94 | $60,200 |
| 25th percentile | $37.88 | $78,800 |
| Median (50th) | $48.22 | $100,290 |
| 75th percentile | $51.12 | $106,320 |
| 90th percentile | $55.16 | $114,730 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Rockford, IL compares
- Rockford ranks 2nd of 8 Illinois metro areas for ironworker pay.
- Ironworkers are more concentrated in the Rockford area than nationally: 1.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 3.2 times the U.S. share.
Other Illinois metro areas
Other trades in Rockford, IL
Questions
- Do ironworkers make more in Rockford or Chicago?
- Chicago pays more: the median is $100,290 in Rockford and $102,350 in Chicago, a 2% 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 40420 (Rockford, IL). 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 (92.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures