How much do ironworkers make in Pennsylvania in 2026?

The median ironworker in Pennsylvania earns $82,970 a year, which works out to roughly $39.89 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That number sits in the middle of the range — half of ironworkers in the state earn more, half earn less. If you're newer to the trade or working in a slower market, you're more likely near the 25th percentile at $66,390 annually ($31.92/hr). Experienced hands with specialized skills and strong project track records push into the 75th percentile at $103,920 a year, or about $49.96 an hour.

These figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, published May 2025. They represent straight-time wages and salaries — they do not include overtime pay, per diem, tool allowances, or the value of health and retirement benefits. In a trade where overtime is common on bridge projects, stadium builds, and major industrial work, your actual take-home can run meaningfully higher than the base figures suggest.

Pennsylvania has a heavy concentration of ironwork driven by infrastructure — bridges across the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Delaware rivers require constant maintenance and replacement, and the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia metro areas consistently generate structural steel and reinforcing work. Outside the metros, the central and northeastern parts of the state see ironwork tied to industrial facilities, energy infrastructure, and institutional construction. Where you work within Pennsylvania matters: projects in the Philadelphia or Pittsburgh areas tend to pay at or above the state median, while rural or low-activity regions may trend closer to the 25th percentile.

Experience is the clearest driver of where you land on this pay scale. An apprentice ironworker entering the trade will generally start well below the 25th percentile figure shown here — BLS OEWS data captures all workers across all experience levels, and the $66,390 mark reflects journeyworkers at the lower end, not first-year apprentices. Most apprenticeship programs in ironwork run four years and include progressive wage increases tied to hours logged and skills demonstrated. By the time you reach journeyworker status, you're positioned to hit or exceed the median.

Specialization moves the needle fast. Ironworkers who move into structural steel erection on high-rise or long-span projects, those certified for ornamental and architectural work, or those with experience in rigging and machinery moving command higher rates. Welding certifications — particularly AWS D1.1 structural welding — add leverage at the bargaining table with employers. Workers who can do both ironwork and certified welding are harder to replace, and that scarcity shows up in pay.

Project type also plays a role in annual earnings, even if hourly rates are similar. Heavy infrastructure projects — bridge replacements, highway overpasses, industrial plant upgrades — often run extended schedules and authorize significant overtime. On a busy project year, an ironworker at the $39.89/hr median rate who logs 300 hours of overtime at time-and-a-half earns roughly $17,951 more than the BLS base figure captures. That's not uncommon in peak construction seasons running spring through late fall in Pennsylvania.

Some ironworkers in Pennsylvania are covered by a collective bargaining agreement — check with your local for current rates. Those rates and benefit structures are not reflected in the BLS figures used here.

The difference between the 25th and 75th percentile — $66,390 versus $103,920 — is $37,530 a year, or about $18 an hour. That's the real-world value of experience, certification, project type, and geography in this trade. Understanding where you sit on that range and what it takes to move up is the most practical way to use these numbers.

All data on this page is sourced from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release and reflects wage estimates for ironworkers in Pennsylvania. TradesPays does not adjust or smooth these figures.