Do ironworkers make more in Columbus or Akron?

Columbus pays more: the median is $76,920 in Columbus and $76,330 in Akron, a 1% difference.

Ironworker salary in Columbus, OH

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the Columbus, OH area earn a median of $76,920 a year, or $36.98 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $132,650. That's 3% more than the Ohio median of $74,710.

Median yearly pay$76,920

Bottom 10% under$50,960Top 10% over$132,650

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $24.50/hr
Jobs in this area: 370
After cost of living: $80,570
Median hourly pay: $36.98/hr
vs U.S. median: +23%
vs Ohio median: +3%
Mean (average) pay: $80,030 a year · $38.48 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 18140, Columbus, OH). 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 Columbus, OH 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	$24.50	$50,960
25th percentile	$30.35	$63,120
Median (50th)	$36.98	$76,920
75th percentile	$38.07	$79,190
90th percentile	$63.78	$132,650

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

How Columbus, OH compares

Columbus has the highest ironworker median of the 6 Ohio metro areas with published pay.
Ironworkers are less concentrated in the Columbus area than nationally: 0.3 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.75 times the U.S. share.

Other Ohio metro areas

Other trades in Columbus, OH

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Lineman Plumber Diesel mechanic Carpenter Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer Millwright

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in Columbus or Akron?: Columbus pays more: the median is $76,920 in Columbus and $76,330 in Akron, a 1% 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 18140 (Columbus, OH). 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 (95.5, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures