Welding Salary Trends: How Much Do Welders Earn Today?

Welding, one of the oldest and most resilient metal joining methods, is a skill that finds use in industries worldwide. If you're considering a career in welding, you're not just stepping into a profession but into a global community with shared skills and relevance, but you might be wondering if it is worth it.

Despite its inherent risks and the need to work in challenging conditions, the welding career is far from stagnant. It offers a substantial potential for growth and advancement but also a good salary.

That's why we unravel the frequently asked questions: How much do welders earn, What are the highest paying industries, and What can you do to maximize the welding income?

TIG Pipe Welding
Source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AZCjAncT18s

What is the average welder's salary in 2024?

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, welders in the U.S. can earn a median salary of $48,940 per year or a median hourly wage of $23.53 per hour. The mean annual salary of welders is $52,640, or $25.31 per hour. On its own, this information doesn't mean a lot to you, so we can compare it to the other occupations.

Comparison-wise, welders can make more than the national average of $48,060. This is the median average of all occupations across the states, so as a welder, you can earn a few bucks more than the average.

However, statistics can sometimes be misleading. The median wage, for instance, is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. To put it in perspective,  the lowest 10 percent of welders earned less than $36,830, while the highest 10 percent earned more than $72,970. [1]

This information raises a number of questions regarding the welder's salary, and the most important one concerns the factors that affect the salary.

Underwater Welders
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xigAr1aqZzY

What Factors Affect The Welder's Salary

As noted, it is hard to tell much about a welder's salary based on statistical information. In reality, the money you can earn welding will depend on:

• Experience
• State or location
• Industry
• Specific skills and welding certification

Let's discuss more on how each of these factors affects the welder's salary.

Source: https://certifiedsource.com/tag/welding-jobs/

How Does Experience Affect a Welder's Salary?

As with any other profession, the experience and time you spend in a specific industry will play a crucial role in how much you earn. The more time you spend working, the more proficient you become in a particular skill, and you can pursue higher welding certifications and earn a higher salary.

Based on experience, welders are divided into groups of:

• welding beginners (0-2 years)

• mid-career professionals (3-6 years)

• seniors (7+ years)

Fresh off the course, you will start as an apprentice or Welder I, but you can evolve into a mid-career professional over the years.

Fresh off the course, you will start as an apprentice or Welder I, but you can evolve into a mid-career professional over the years.

Based on reports and experience, beginners with 0-24 months of experience make $29,500 to $35,000 per year, which is significantly lower than the average median salary. Mid-career professionals meet and exceed the average of $45,000-$60,000, while seniors can earn well over $70,000 a year. [2]

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Experienced-Welder-Salary#Yearly

Welding Salary Based On State and Location

The rule of supply and demand for the welding industry also plays a vital role in determining the salary of welders, and a lot of that is based on the state you are living in. According to BLS data, Texas is the capital of welders, with the highest number of employees, 52,820. The reason is the developed petroleum industry across the Gulf, agricultural applications, shipbuilding and maintenance, railroad, and other sectors that highly depend on welding, therefore creating a strong demand. [3]

However, states such as Hawaii and Alaska are employing no more than 500-550 welders, but there is a strong demand for welding jobs. Working in harsh conditions, growing oil and gas industry infrastructure and pipeline, and a low number of employed welders yields a high welding salary, which is among the highest in the U.S. based on the state average, with $75,590-$79,210.[4]

Source: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes514121.htm

There is also a relation between location and salary. Metropolitan areas and large cities yield higher wages but with a higher cost of living. Rural areas typically bring lower wages but with affordable living costs. So, choosing a location for your welding career shouldn't only be based on the salary.

Industry And Welder Salary

Welding is a crucial part of many different industries, from automotive and general fabrication to aerospace, nuclear plants, and more. The industry you work in can significantly impact the average salary you earn, simply by the nature of the job and skill requirements.

Aerospace Welding
Source: https://www.ohiocontractmfg.com/aerospace-welding/

For example, Metal Fabrication, Machinery Manufacturing, and Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing employ the most welders. However, the job difficulty and skill requirements are relatively low, so welders in these industries earn up to $50,350, which is just above the national average.

However, there are advanced industries, such as Scheduled Air Transportation, Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution, or Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas, that employ no more than 1000 welders per industry. These industries require the highest skilled, senior welders but can pay up to six figures or over $102,900. [5]

Source: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes514121.htm

Specific Skill And Welding Certification

Specific skills and welding certification are closely related to welding experience, and it can also affect the welding salary you will get. Mastering the four primary processes, MIG welding, TIG welding, Stick Welding, and Flux core, will grant you the basic welding certification, but some pay more or less.

For example, MIG welding is fairly easy and suitable for everyday jobs and general fabrication, which is not the highest paying. Meanwhile, TIG welding is the most complex and can yield the highest quality welds. As a result, proficient TIG welders can work in advanced industries such as nuclear plants or aerospace and earn significantly more.

Welding in a Nuclear Plant
Photo by @littleiron292 (TikTok)

As you pursue a welding career, you become eligible for higher welding certification. You start as a Certified Welder (CW), and you can work your way up to Certified Welding Inspector (CWI), Certified Welding Educator (CWE), Certified Welding Supervisor (CWS), or Certified Welding Engineer (CWEng). Each higher position requires higher expertise, but it yields a higher salary. According to Salary.com, welding engineers earn an average of $101,260 a year.[6]

Top Paying Welding Jobs

Understanding what affects the welder's salary is the first step in choosing the most profitable welding career. However, if you are looking to score some of the paying welding jobs, we will give you an insight into paying industries and countries.

Mobile Welding Jobs
Photo by @MSJCustoms (YouTube Shorts)

The top-paying industries and jobs for welders are:

• Underwater welding
• Military-support welder
• Rig welder
• Nuclear welder
• Welding engineer
• Aerospace welder

If we compare this information with the official statistics of the Bureau of Labor, we can see a slight mismatch. The reason is that all of these jobs are sorted into one out of many industries, which includes multiple jobs. Once again, statistics work with median or mean average salaries, so the actual image of welding jobs can be distorted.

Nonetheless, we'll further explore the top-paying welding jobs and the reasons why they are so well-paid.

Rig Welders
Photo by @dimelayerwelding (TikTok)

Underwater Welding Salary And Career

Underwater welding is one of the riskiest careers among all other welding jobs, but the high risk yields high rewards. The underwater welders work either in the water itself (known as wet welding) or in a dry, pressurized chamber (known as dry welding). Their job is to repair, fix, or maintain underwater oil rigs or other similar structures, work on subsea construction projects, recover metals from shipwrecks, etc.

Source: https://www.canadianmetalworking.com/

Regardless of whether it is wet or dry underwater welding, welders typically work in harsh conditions, and rigorous training and testing is required. Besides making strong underwater welds, they have to endure in sea or lake currents and against unpredictable conditions.

These all yield exceptionally high salary that, on the median average, takes up to $86,232 a year. Depending on the various factors noted above, according to Glassdoor, underwater welders can make $66K - $113K a year, which is well above and almost triple the national average for all occupations and welders. [7]

How much does an Underwater Welder make?
Source: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/underwater-welder-salary-SRCH_KO0,17.htm

Military-support Welders

Military-support welders work on and off base, repairing and fabricating metal parts for equipment, vehicles, and structures. When deployed overseas, they work at a station or camp, and their responsibilities include fixing holes in tanks, repairing radiators, and creating weldments on tracked vehicle hulls.

While it is not mandatory, the on-base welder duties can be hazardous depending on the location of the base. However, that also compensates with a decent salary. To become a military welder, you can enroll in the military with a welding certification, or you can show interest during your duty and take the Army certifications.

According to Slary.com, military welders can earn between $57,683-$71,951 per year. While this base number is not as high as an underwater welder, there are lots of benefits and military duty pay added to this salary, yielding over six figures of pay. [8]

Source: https://www.salary.com/research/company/military-com/welder-salary?cjid=8133418

Rig Welder Salary

A rig welder is in charge of assembling and welding metal plates and other metal structures that make up the drilling platform and rigs. Although underwater welders can also work on oil rigs, typical rig welders work above the water level, but this doesn't make the work less complicated.

Source: https://workshopinsider.com/become-rig-welder/

As a result, rig welding is another profession with high risk and high reward. The welds must withstand heavy-duty work, and employees must be willing to pay for it.

Getting into this profession requires a lot of tenacity and will to work even in harshest conditions and shifts longer than 12 hours. As a result, according to GoWelders, rig welders can earn outstanding salaries of up to $52,000 – $207,000. [9]

Nuclear Welder Salary

The nuclear welding career is, despite its name, generally a safe occupation. It includes performing maintenance on nuclear equipment, using tools to test connections throughout a plant or facility, or helping repair damaged components.

What makes nuclear welders one of the highest paid is the fact welds must meet rigorous weld specifications and tests. The highest-quality welds are required, so you will need a lot of experience and expertise to excel in your nuclear welding career.

However, your expertise can be well compensated, as nuclear welders can earn an annual salary of $22,000 – $143,500. Once again, the value depends on the factors we mentioned at the top of the text. [10]

Welding Engineer

The title of Certified Welding Engineer (CWEng) is acquired after passing a certification test, but the road to becoming an engineer is quite long. You will need a Bachelor of Science or higher degree in engineering and at least a year of work experience in a welding job. Other bachelor's degrees require 2-5 years of welding experience, and if you have an Associate's degree or less, you will need over 10 years of welding experience.

Source: https://haward.org/courses/12342/6/AWS---CWEng-Certified-Welding-Engineer-Part-3-4

A welding engineer must understand how design, materials, processes, and quality requirements interact with and affect one another and create everlasting weldments or figure out solutions that can improve the existing ones.

Pursuing a career as a welding engineer can be a long and challenging path, but it eventually pays off. Welding engineers are working far from harsh conditions like regular welders, and they can easily earn a six-figure salary of $103,592 a year for it. [11]

Source: https://www.salary.com/research/salary/posting/welding-engineer-salary

Aerospace Welder

If we look at the BLS data, the Scheduled Air Transportation industry yields the highest salaries, with a median average of $102,900 a year. In reality, the salary varies, and the numbers can reach a much higher value. [12]

What makes aerospace welders so well-paid is the fact they work with advanced metals and processes. New metals bring out an extraordinary weight-to-strength ratio, which is crucial in aircraft, but it can be highly challenging to weld.

Once again, the highest quality welds are required, and high welder skills yield a high salary. Unfortunately, this industry employs very few welders, so getting a job can be a difficult task.

Source: https://haward.org/courses/12342/6/AWS---CWEng-Certified-Welding-Engineer-Part-3-4

Top Paying States For Welders

As noted, a welder's salary can depend on the location of the welder. According to the BLS data reports, these are the top 5 paying states for welders:

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics 

If you are looking to get the best out of your welding, the best choices are Alaska and Hawaii. Due to Alaska's vital oil and gas industry, the state requires many skilled welding professionals, which positively impacts the pay. Hawaii is a remote location dependent on tourism, which means a high demand for skilled welding professionals can drive up salaries. 

The rest of the states with a top welder salary have a large number of government and commercial projects that require skilled welding professionals or have large metal manufacturing companies that drive a strong demand for welders.

Welding Railings for A Commercial Building
Photo by @brandon1collier (TikTok)

How To Maximize Your Welding Salary

Understanding what can affect the amount of money you earn with your welding by the end of the month can help you maximize your welding potential and salary. If you have already settled on a welding career but you think you earn less than you should, here are some tips on how to optimize your welding salary:

• Develop specialized skills
• Aim for higher certification
• Change industries
• Consider self-employment
• Follow new welding trends

Robotic Welding Technology
Source: https://blog.hirebotics.com/new-welding-technology

Acquire Specialized Welding Skills

Knowing how to weld will undoubtedly get you a welding job, but if you want a higher salary, you will have to develop specialized skills. For example, getting proficient in TIG welding grants you the potential to work in some of the specialized industries, such as aerospace or nuclear welding, that pay well.

Pipe welding is another example of a specialized skill that is always in demand. Pipefitters and pipe welders are wanted across the state, especially in the areas with developed gas and oil industries, and offer the potential to earn quite a few bucks.

TIG Welding Pipes
Photo by @jarenpowrie (TikTok)

Pursue Higher Certification

A welding certificate is not always needed to score a welding job, but having one can significantly increase your chances of getting one. If you are already working, there is a high chance you are already a certified welder (CW), so why stop there?

As you spend more time in the welding industry, you are eligible to take higher certification courses and tests. The higher you get, the job takes you away from the field and harsh conditions, but it also pays well. You don't have to go to CWEng immediately to boost your salary; you can start as a CWI or sales representative, and you get better work conditions and a higher salary.

Source: https://www.thefabricator.com/thewelder/article/arcwelding/so-you-want-to-become-an-aws-cwi
Certified Welding Inspector Certificate

Follow New Welding Trends

Nothing beats good old welding, but welding is evolving. It follows the new trends of automation, welding robots, drones, and advanced welding processes and materials.

While sticking to traditional welding methods and procedures will get you the job, following the new trends carries the potential for a higher salary. Welding automation and robots were developed as a solution for the welder shortage, but they also require skilled personnel to work around them. Advanced metals and processes are also evolving, but very few welders are ready to grow and adapt.

Specializing in new trends, learning new processes, and continuous learning yields a high potential in securing a job in big companies that pay well. Like with certification, operating welding robots or drones is a much safer welding job, and it can also grant a higher salary.

Robotic Arc Welding
https://www.robots.com/articles/arc-welding-101

Opt for High Paying Industries

One of the significant pros of welding is the fact you can switch industries with little to no need for adaptation. You are welding the pieces regardless of whether that's in the fabrication, automotive, or aerospace fields, although there are different skill requirements.

Therefore, if you feel like your job is not paying well, you can always try to get one in the higher paying industries such as nuclear welding, aerospace welding, or others we mentioned in our text. The truth is you will work with different metals or processes, but if you are proficient enough, it is easy to adapt.

Nuclear Welding
Source: https://weldingofwelders.com/nuclear-welding/

Consider Starting Your Welding Business

Another advantage of welding is that if you feel like you should earn more, you can always start your own welding business. According to different sources, independent welding contractors can earn close to or even more than the average median welder's salary, and the potential is even higher if there is a strong demand for welders.

There is always an option to work part-time as a welding contractor besides your everyday job, and that's the option many welders like to do to earn some extra money. However, if there is a strong demand for welding in your area, a few welding and cutting machines are great ways to start working independently.

Welding Contractor Long Beach
Source: https://candsweldinginc.com/welding-contractor-long-beach-2/

Final Thoughts

Welding is one of the oldest metal joining processes that persists today. The list of pros is the reason many industries turn to welding, but one advantage that concerns many is the potential for an excellent salary.

According to official statistics, welders earn more than the national average of all occupations. However, in reality, a welder's salary is dependent on many factors, including experience, location, skills, or certification. As a result, if you are dedicated and willing to learn and adapt, you can earn quite a few bucks or even a six-figure salary yearly.