Do ironworkers make more in Rapid City or Sioux Falls?

Sioux Falls pays more: the median is $49,100 in Rapid City and $59,200 in Sioux Falls, a 17% difference.

Ironworker salary in Rapid City, SD

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the Rapid City, SD area earn a median of $49,100 a year, or $23.60 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $71,510 a year. That's 14% less than the South Dakota median of $57,050.

Median yearly pay$49,100

Bottom 10% under$45,380Top 10% over$71,510

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $21.82/hr
Jobs in this area: 170
After cost of living: $55,070
Median hourly pay: $23.60/hr
vs U.S. median: −22%
vs South Dakota median: −14%
Mean (average) pay: $53,060 a year · $25.51 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 39660, Rapid City, SD). 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 Rapid City, SD 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	$21.82	$45,380
25th percentile	$23.08	$48,000
Median (50th)	$23.60	$49,100
75th percentile	$28.16	$58,570
90th percentile	$34.38	$71,510

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

How Rapid City, SD compares

Ironworkers are more concentrated in the Rapid City area than nationally: 2.3 of every 1,000 jobs, 5.2 times the U.S. share.

Other South Dakota metro areas

Sioux Falls$59,200

Other trades in Rapid City, SD

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

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in Rapid City or Sioux Falls?: Sioux Falls pays more: the median is $49,100 in Rapid City and $59,200 in Sioux Falls, a 17% 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 39660 (Rapid City, SD). 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 (89.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures