TradeSalary

Ironworker salary in Pittsburgh, PA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the Pittsburgh, PA area earn a median of $82,860 a year, or $39.84 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $106,150. Across all of Pennsylvania, the median is $82,970, so Pittsburgh pays about the same as the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$82,860
Bottom 10% under$56,330Top 10% over$106,150
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$27.08/hr
Jobs in this area
370
After cost of living
$87,520
Median hourly pay
$39.84/hr
vs U.S. median
+32%
vs Pennsylvania median
0%
Mean (average) pay
$81,060 a year · $38.97 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 38300, Pittsburgh, PA). 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 Pittsburgh, PA 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$27.08$56,330
25th percentile$32.04$66,640
Median (50th)$39.84$82,860
75th percentile$42.62$88,650
90th percentile$51.03$106,150

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

How Pittsburgh, PA compares

  • Pittsburgh ranks 3rd of 6 Pennsylvania metro areas for ironworker pay.
  • Ironworkers are less concentrated in the Pittsburgh area than nationally: 0.3 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.76 times the U.S. share.

Other Pennsylvania metro areas

Other trades in Pittsburgh, PA

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia?
Philadelphia pays more: the median is $82,860 in Pittsburgh and $103,330 in Philadelphia, a 20% 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 38300 (Pittsburgh, PA). 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 (94.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures