How much do Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders make in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA?

Percentile spread

For Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders, the published 10th percentile is $53,130 and the 90th percentile is $60,060. The difference is $6,930, which is 11.5% of the median. Ten percent of measured wages fall below the 10th percentile and ten percent fall above the 90th. How to read a percentile.

The middle half of the distribution, from the 25th percentile at $60,020 to the 75th at $60,020, covers $0.

The mean annual wage is $58,710, which sits below the median of $60,020. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA median is 10.3% higher than the national median of $54,430 for Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders. In 2024 national prices the local median is $68,943, which is 26.7% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 5.2% higher than the Iowa median of $57,030.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA is 87.057, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $60,020 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders at $68,943 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

No other metropolitan area within 200 miles has a published annual median for Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders in the May 2025 tables. A wage from farther away is not filled in. When a wage is not published.

Employment share

Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders accounts for 0.09% of wage-and-salary employment in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA (80 of 84,260). Nationally the occupation is 0.01% of employment (16,780 of 155,495,730). The local share is 8.80 times the national share. That ratio is the location quotient computed from these May 2025 employment counts. It is not copied from the location-quotient column in the BLS bulk file.