---
title: "Structural Iron and Steel Worker"
description: "Raise, place, and unite iron or steel girders, columns, and other structural members to form completed structures or structural frameworks. May erect…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Structural Iron and Steel Worker

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2221 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2221.00

Raise, place, and unite iron or steel girders, columns, and other structural members to form completed structures or structural frameworks. May erect metal storage tanks and assemble prefabricated metal buildings.

Also advertised as: Field Iron Worker; Iron Worker; Ironworker; Steel Erector; Steel Fabricator; Steel Worker; Structural Erector; Structural Steel Erector.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $62,780 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $30.18/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $44,580 to $108,260, with the middle half between $49,880 and $82,660
- **Total US employment:** 68,380
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +3.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 5,900 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 60/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 68,380 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $44,580 |
| 25th | $49,880 |
| 50th (median) | $62,780 |
| 75th | $82,660 |
| 90th | $108,260 |
| Mean (average) | $70,280 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MA | $120,840 | $114,262 | 2,050 |
| NJ | $113,220 | $104,058 | 1,060 |
| WA | $107,660 | $100,605 | 850 |
| IL | $101,850 | $101,893 | 2,740 |
| HI | $99,860 | $90,822 | 290 |
| RI | $98,320 | $96,128 | 360 |
| OR | $96,050 | $92,927 | 570 |
| MN | $95,320 | $96,653 | 910 |
| WI | $92,820 | $98,645 | 710 |
| NY | $92,610 | $85,813 | 2,700 |
| PA | $82,970 | $85,035 | 1,610 |
| ND | $82,120 | $92,312 | 270 |
| MO | $77,410 | $85,237 | 1,320 |
| IA | $77,400 | $88,193 | Not published by BLS |
| AK | $76,970 | $75,196 | 120 |

37 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 52 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 68,300 in the 2025–2035 base year to 70,400 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 2,100 jobs, or +3.1%. About as fast as average: 3.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 5,900 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Apprenticeship.

## What the work involves

- Bolt aligned structural steel members in position for permanent riveting, bolting, or welding into place.
- Lift steel beams, girders, or columns using cranes or forklifts, or by signaling hoisting equipment operators to lift or position structural steel members.
- Connect columns, beams, and girders with bolts, following blueprints and instructions from supervisors.
- Fasten structural steel members to hoist cables, using chains, cables, or rope.
- Pull, push, or pry structural steel members into approximate positions for bolting into place.
- Unload and position prefabricated steel units for hoisting, as needed.
- Force structural steel members into final positions, using turnbuckles, crowbars, jacks, or hand tools.
- Read specifications or blueprints to determine the locations, quantities, or sizes of materials required.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Building and Construction — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Visualization — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.73 |
| I — Investigative | 2.79 |
| A — Artistic | 1.41 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.24 |
| S — Social | 1.17 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 88.1 |
| ISTP | 79.9 |
| ISFJ | 70.9 |
| ESTJ | 69.3 |
| INTJ | 69.1 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/reinforcing-iron-and-rebar-worker) — median $58,970
- [Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter) — median $51,330
- [Sheet Metal Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sheet-metal-worker) — median $61,800
- [Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpenter) — median $60,580
- [Millwright](https://nuecareer.com/careers/millwright) — median $65,700
- [Aircraft Structure, Surface, Rigging, and Systems Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-structure-surface-rigging-and-systems-assembler) — median $65,380
- [Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer) — median $58,930
- [Layout Worker, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/layout-worker-metal-and-plastic) — median $63,870
- [Boilermaker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/boilermaker) — median $76,410
- [Construction Laborer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-laborer) — median $47,120

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker