Structural Iron and Steel Workers
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.
- Median pay
- $62,780
- Doing it now
- 68,300
- By 2035
- Up 3.1%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
5,900 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Read specifications or blueprints to determine the locations, quantities, or sizes of materials required.
- Verify vertical and horizontal alignment of structural steel members, using plumb bobs, laser equipment, transits, or levels.
- Connect columns, beams, and girders with bolts, following blueprints and instructions from supervisors.
- Bolt aligned structural steel members in position for permanent riveting, bolting, or welding into place.
- Fabricate metal parts, such as steel frames, columns, beams, or girders, according to blueprints or instructions from supervisors.
- Pull, push, or pry structural steel members into approximate positions for bolting into place.
- Cut, bend, or weld steel pieces, using metal shears, torches, or welding equipment.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Building/Construction Finishing, Management, and InspectionSee 14 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $62,780 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.