TradeSalary

Ironworker salary in McAllen, TX

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Ironworkers in the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission, TX area earn a median of $42,710 a year, or $20.53 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $68,780. Across all of Texas, the median is $52,240, so McAllen pays 18% less than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$42,710
Bottom 10% under$31,370Top 10% over$68,780
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$15.08/hr
Jobs in this area
60
After cost of living
$49,720
Median hourly pay
$20.53/hr
vs U.S. median
−32%
vs Texas median
−18%
Mean (average) pay
$46,970 a year · $22.58 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 32580, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX). 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 McAllen, TX 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$15.08$31,370
25th percentile$18.13$37,700
Median (50th)$20.53$42,710
75th percentile$26.86$55,870
90th percentile$33.07$68,780

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

How McAllen, TX compares

  • McAllen has the lowest ironworker median of the 13 Texas metro areas with published pay.
  • Ironworkers are less concentrated in the McAllen area than nationally: 0.2 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.49 times the U.S. share.

Other Texas metro areas

Other trades in McAllen, TX

Questions

Do ironworkers make more in McAllen or Austin?
Austin pays more: the median is $42,710 in McAllen and $59,980 in Austin, a 29% 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 32580 (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX). 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 (85.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures