TradeSalary

Ironworker salary in Winston, NC

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the Winston–Salem, NC area earn a median of $47,730 a year, or $22.95 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $56,460. Across all of North Carolina, the median is $48,740, so Winston pays 2% less than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$47,730
Bottom 10% under$36,190Top 10% over$56,460
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$17.40/hr
Jobs in this area
160
After cost of living
$51,860
Median hourly pay
$22.95/hr
vs U.S. median
−24%
vs North Carolina median
−2%
Mean (average) pay
$49,210 a year · $23.66 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 49180, Winston-Salem, NC). 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 Winston, NC 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$17.40$36,190
25th percentile$22.29$46,370
Median (50th)$22.95$47,730
75th percentile$26.98$56,120
90th percentile$27.14$56,460

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

How Winston, NC compares

  • Winston has the lowest ironworker median of the 5 North Carolina metro areas with published pay.
  • Ironworkers are more concentrated in the Winston area than nationally: 0.6 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.3 times the U.S. share.

Other North Carolina metro areas

Other trades in Winston, NC

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in Winston or Virginia Beach?
Virginia Beach pays more: the median is $47,730 in Winston and $58,630 in Virginia Beach, 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 49180 (Winston-Salem, NC). 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 (92.0, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures