Welder salary by state
What welders earn nationally
The median welder earns $53,750 a year, according to BLS OEWS, May 2025 wage data for the Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers occupation. That figure covers the entire country, every state and every industry BLS tracks welders in. It is the number to start from before asking how your state compares.
BLS also projects about 45,600 annual openings in this occupation from 2024 to 2034, with employment growth of 2%, which BLS describes as slower than average and driven mainly by the need to replace workers who leave the field or retire, not by new job creation. Openings, in other words, come from turnover more than expansion.
What a sample of states shows
BLS does not publish state-level wage data on this page for all 50 states, so the chart below is a deliberately partial set (8 states spanning oil-and-gas, shipbuilding, and general-manufacturing geography), not a claim of national coverage. Every figure is BLS's own state OEWS estimate, not an estimate of ours; check BLS's state data directly for a state not shown here.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Washington | $63,020 |
| Louisiana | $62,250 |
| North Dakota | $62,000 |
| California | $58,060 |
| Texas | $53,340 |
| Pennsylvania | $52,900 |
| Ohio | $50,340 |
| Michigan | $49,990 |
| National median | $53,750 |
Why pay varies by state
A national median, and even the 8-state sample above, hides finer-grained spread across metros within a state. What follows are the documented, general reasons state and regional pay differs.
Cost of living. Wages track the cost of housing, transportation, and goods in a given labor market. A welder in a high-cost metro area is typically paid more in nominal dollars than a welder in a low-cost rural county, even if the two jobs are similar in skill and hours.
Industry concentration. Welding pay follows the industries that hire welders in a given region. States with heavy oil and gas activity, shipbuilding, or large-scale heavy manufacturing tend to have more demand for welders with process- and code-specific skills, which shapes local pay differently than a state where welding work is spread across smaller manufacturing and repair shops.
Local labor supply. A state with fewer trained welders relative to open positions puts upward pressure on pay in that market. A state with a larger training pipeline, more programs graduating more welders, can mean a more competitive local labor pool.
Where to find your state's actual number
Check BLS's state occupational wage data directly for a figure specific to your state. BLS publishes state and metro-level wage estimates by occupation, and that is the authoritative source for a state number, not a national blog post.
While you are comparing states, our directory can show you the training landscape in a given state, including the mix of public, private for-profit, and private nonprofit welding programs and what the tuition data looks like across them. Three examples:
- Our directory's Texas page covers welding programs across the state, relevant to readers weighing pay against training cost in a state with a large industrial and energy sector.
- Our directory's Ohio page covers the state's welding program landscape for readers considering the Midwest manufacturing corridor.
- Our directory's Pennsylvania page covers programs in a state with a long manufacturing and heavy-industry history.
Across the 938 programs in our directory, public programs report a median in-state tuition of $4,265 per year, private for-profit programs report a median total program cost of $21,228, and private nonprofit programs report a median total program cost of $16,375. Those figures are national medians across all states combined, not state-specific numbers, and are one input alongside BLS's own state wage data when weighing where to train or work.
How certification affects pay within a state
Pay inside a single state also depends on what a welder is certified or qualified to do. AWS's Certified Welder (CW) credential is a performance-only test with no required course and a six-month recertification cycle. Code-specific qualifications like D1.1 (structural steel) and D1.2 (aluminum) are cited directly in employer job postings and typically require passing an employer-administered test to that code's procedure, not a credential AWS issues to the individual. BLS and industry sources name certification level and process specialization as factors in pay, without publishing a specific dollar difference per credential. Review the certification codex for how these credentials relate to each other.
FAQ
Does BLS publish a welder salary for every state?
Yes. BLS's state occupational wage data covers welders at the state and metro level. This article's chart shows a partial set of states, cited from BLS OEWS, alongside the national $53,750 median; check BLS's state data directly for a number specific to your state if it isn't one of the ones shown.
Why do welders in oil and gas states often earn more?
BLS documents industry concentration as a factor in regional pay. States with more oil and gas, shipbuilding, or heavy manufacturing activity tend to have stronger demand for welders with relevant process and code skills, which affects local pay.
Does a welding certification guarantee higher pay in every state?
No single number applies everywhere. Certification level and process specialization are named by BLS and industry sources as pay factors, but the dollar effect varies by employer, region, and demand, and no state-specific premium is published here.
Where can I compare welding programs in a specific state?
Our directory organizes the 938 programs by state, including tuition and program-type data. Start with a state page for your state of interest.