Where in Minnesota do ironworkers earn the most?

Among Minnesota metro areas, La Crosse–Onalaska has the highest median at $100,160 a year, and Sioux Falls the lowest at $59,200.

Ironworker salary in Minnesota

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in Minnesota earn a median of $95,320 a year, or $45.83 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $99,010. That's 52% more than the national median of $62,780, 8th of 50 states and DC.

Median yearly pay$95,320

Bottom 10% under$80,030Top 10% over$99,010

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $38.47/hr
Jobs in Minnesota: 910
After cost of living: $96,650
Median hourly pay: $45.83/hr
vs U.S. median: +52%
Rank among states: 8th of 50
Mean (average) pay: $92,680 a year · $44.56 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 27). 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 Minnesota 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	$38.47	$80,030
25th percentile	$43.14	$89,720
Median (50th)	$45.83	$95,320
75th percentile	$47.19	$98,160
90th percentile	$47.60	$99,010

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 Minnesota rose 17.3%, from $81,260 in May 2021 to $95,320 in May 2025. Prices rose 19.4% over the same period, so after inflation it fell 1.8%.

Year	Median a year	Median an hour
May 2021	$81,260	$39.07/hr
May 2022	$78,350	$37.67/hr
May 2023	$75,800	$36.44/hr
May 2024	$93,240	$44.83/hr
May 2025	$95,320	$45.83/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 Minnesota compares

Ironworkers are less concentrated in Minnesota than nationally: 0.3 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.70 times the U.S. share.

Pay by metro area

Other trades in Minnesota

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Lineman Plumber Diesel mechanic Carpenter Wind turbine technician Elevator mechanic Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer Millwright Boilermaker

Bidding federal work? Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates in Minnesota list what contractors must pay ironworkers on federal and federally assisted jobs, county by county.

Questions

Where in Minnesota do ironworkers earn the most?: Among Minnesota metro areas, La Crosse–Onalaska has the highest median at $100,160 a year, and Sioux Falls the lowest at $59,200.

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 27. 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 (98.6, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures