TradeSalary

Ironworker salary in South Bend, IN-MI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the South Bend–Mishawaka, IN-MI area earn a median of $73,640 a year, or $35.41 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $93,070. That's 5% more than the Indiana median of $70,130.

Median yearly pay$73,640
Bottom 10% under$47,820Top 10% over$93,070
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$22.99/hr
Jobs in this area
50
After cost of living
$79,300
Median hourly pay
$35.41/hr
vs U.S. median
+17%
vs Indiana median
+5%
Mean (average) pay
$70,190 a year · $33.74 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 43780, South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI). 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 South Bend, IN-MI 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$22.99$47,820
25th percentile$29.07$60,470
Median (50th)$35.41$73,640
75th percentile$44.44$92,430
90th percentile$44.74$93,070

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

How South Bend, IN-MI compares

  • South Bend ranks 4th of 9 Indiana metro areas for ironworker pay.
  • Ironworkers hold about the same share of jobs in the South Bend area as nationally: 0.4 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Indiana metro areas

Other trades in South Bend, IN-MI

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in South Bend or Chicago?
Chicago pays more: the median is $73,640 in South Bend and $102,350 in Chicago, a 28% 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 43780 (South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI). 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 (92.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures