Salary of Steel Structure Contractors
Steel structure contractors place and install columns, steel girders and other components for bridges, high-rise office buildings and hotels. They usually work with blueprints and large steel pieces that are already pre-fabricated by iron workers. Steel structure contractors connect the steel pieces and secure them, often using cranes and other equipment to get large steel pieces in place. Steel structure contractors also make stairways, elevators and bank vaults. These workers usually get paid by the hour.
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Median Wages and Salary
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General structural iron and steel workers earned median hourly wages of $20.68 in 2008, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Projected to an annual basis, their median salary is about $43,014 per year, based on 40-hour workweeks. The middle 50 percent of all steel structure contractors earned wages between $15.18 and $29.15 per hour, or $31,574 to $60,632 annually. Structural iron and steel that work on foundations, structures and building exteriors earned median hourly wages of $21.51, or $44,741 annually, based on 40-hour workweeks. The report includes iron workers along with steel structure contractors' wages.
Average Wages by Industry
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Steel structure contractors' salaries can vary considerably by industry. For example, those working for local governments earned the highest average wages, at $32.48 per hour, or $67,550 per year, according to the report. They earned their second highest salaries in the highway, street and bridge construction industry, at $31.20 per hour, or $64,890 per year. Those working in the wholesale electronics sector earned hourly wages of $30.93, or $64,330 annually, while those employed in iron and steel mills earned $25 per hour, or $52,000 per year.
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Average Wages by State
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Steel structure contractors' salaries also vary by state. For example, those working in New York earned the highest wages, at $34.15 per hour, or $71,030 per year. They earned their second highest wages in Massachusetts at $33.45 per hour or $69,570 annually. Those in Illinois earned average hourly wages of $31.78 or $66,100 per year, and they earned $30.32 per hour or $63,060 per year in New Jersey. Steel structure contractors in the state of Washington earned wages of $28.77 per hour or $59,840 per year.
Averages Wages by Metropolitan Area
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For metropolitan areas surveyed by the statistics bureau, steel structure contractors earned their highest hourly wages in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, metropolitan area at $47.91, or $99,640 annually. They earned their second-highest wages in the Nassau-Suffolk, New York, area at $42.27 per hour, or $87,930 per year. In the Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan area, the average hourly wages were $40.93, or $85,130 annually, while n the Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey, area they were $36.35 per hour, or $75,600 annually. Steel structure contractors earned $36.03 per hour, or $74,930 per hou,r in the Lake County-Kenosha County, Illinois-Wisconsin area.
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References
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment Statistics:Structural Iron and Steel Workers; May 2009
- State University: Structural Steelworker Job Description, Career as Structural Steelworker, Salary, Employment
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition: Structural and Reinforcing Iron and Metal Workers; December 2009
Resources
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