How much do ironworkers make in New York in 2026?
Ironworkers in New York earn a median $92,610 a year, or $44.52 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025 — 47.5% above the national median of $62,780. The row is SOC 47-2221, Structural Iron and Steel Workers, which is close to but slightly broader than the ironworker title. The band runs from $59,140 at the 10th percentile to $129,180 at the 90th, with the 25th at $75,690 and the 75th at $113,260 — note that even the 10th percentile sits below the national median by only a small margin. New York-Newark-Jersey City pays $102,060, then Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh $97,150, Albany-Schenectady-Troy $77,110, Buffalo-Cheektowaga $76,420 and Rochester $76,220. The state employs just 2,700 at a location quotient of 0.63. → Full ironworker career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $92,610 blends every experience level, apprentice through master. For pay by license level alone, see pay by level below.
- New York ironworkers earn a median $92,610/yr ($44.52/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 47-2221), 47.5% above the $62,780 national median; the state P10–P90 range is $59,140 to $129,180.
- The floor is what makes this occupation remarkable, not the ceiling. New York's 10th percentile of $59,140 is within a few thousand dollars of the national median of $62,780 for the whole occupation, and the 25th percentile of $75,690 is a fifth above it. In an unlicensed trade that is the signature of collectively bargained scale rather than of individual negotiation.
- Only 2,700 people hold these jobs statewide, at a location quotient of 0.63 — below the national rate for New York's size. A high-wage, small, tightly organised workforce is a coherent picture: entry is rationed through registered apprenticeships and union hiring halls, and the rationing is part of what sustains the wage.
- The downstate gap is a full third between New York-Newark-Jersey City at $102,060 and Rochester at $76,220, with Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh at $97,150 close behind the city. High-rise structural steel is a downstate business, and the two metros that reach into the top of the band are the two within reach of that work.
New York Ironworker Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Methodology & Sources
How the New York ironworker pay figures on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-2221, New York statewide estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them. OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation in New York; it does not break pay out by credential or licence level.
Pay by level: the level and career-stage tables on this page distribute New York's own published BLS pay range across the tiers employers actually hire at. They are GlobalCybers estimates aligned to published percentiles, not separate BLS publications.
Placement sample: GlobalCybers holds no New York placement sample for this occupation, so this page shows published and percentile-aligned figures only — no placement-based median is claimed anywhere on it.
New York Markets
Which New York city pays ironworkers the most in 2026?
BLS MSA medians for New York's largest ironworker markets — local industrial demand matters more than city size alone.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. New York-Newark-Jersey City leads the state at $102,060.
Getting Licensed
How to become a licensed ironworker in New York, step by step
- 1Apply to a registered apprenticeship
Ironworker apprenticeships in New York are run by joint labour-management committees and registered with the state Department of Labor. Intakes are periodic and competitive; this is the primary route into structural work in this state.
- 2Get the Local Law 196 site safety card
New York City requires a 40-hour Site Safety Training card for workers and a 62-hour card for supervisors on most permitted sites. Without it, city work is closed regardless of skill.
- 3Work through to journeyman scale
The apprenticeship covers the $59,140-to-$75,690 part of the band with progression set by agreement. Journeyman scale is the $92,610 median.
- 4Add welding qualification
Structural welding is governed by AWS procedure qualification rather than by a New York licence, and it broadens the work available on a given project.
- 5Move into foreman and general foreman work
The $113,260 seventy-fifth and $129,180 ninetieth percentiles are crew leadership — rigging plans, sequencing and erection schedule. That is the route through the top of the New York band.
None (apprenticeship) License Levels
How much do the ironworker credential levels pay in New York?
New York licenses issued by New York does not license ironworkers, and no state examination or registration applies to the trade. Entry is controlled instead by the apprenticeship system and, on New York City sites, by mandatory safety training. Ironworker apprenticeships are run by joint labour-management committees and registered with the New York State Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Training programme; the union route through the local hiring hall is the dominant path into structural work in this state. On top of that, New York City's Local Law 196 requires Site Safety Training cards — a 40-hour card for workers and a 62-hour card for supervisors — on most permitted construction sites, and welding on structural work is governed by AWS procedure qualification rather than by any state licence. The gate here is a union book and a training card, not a board.. Each level's median pay in New York markets.
Beyond Base Pay
What's a New York ironworker's total compensation, not just base wage?
BLS and verified-placement medians above are base wage only. Total comp for an NY ironworker typically adds the following on top.
FAQ
New York Ironworker Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
Outlook & openings: BLS projects 4.4% national employment growth for structural iron and steel workers through 2034 against about 5,500 average annual US openings. New York holds roughly 3.9% of national employment on this row, which pro-rates to about 220 openings a year in the state — a pro-rated national figure, not a separately published New York projection, and one of the smallest flows on this site. That number should be read alongside the apprenticeship system: entry is deliberately matched to work availability through registered programmes and hiring halls, so the opening flow is not a queue that a candidate can simply join. New York's specific demand comes from the downstate high-rise pipeline and from bridge and transit infrastructure work, both of which are lumpy and both of which are politically funded.
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