Median pay for welders runs from $28,450 in Aguadilla to $85,790 in Lima — a 3.02× range across 515 metropolitan areas. The national median of $53,750 sits inside that range but describes no particular market.
Ten per cent of welders earn below $39,240 and ten per cent above $77,530 — a 1.98× band. The upside from median to 90th percentile is 44%, which is a normal amount of room for experience and specialisation to matter. An offer below the 25th percentile is worth questioning; one above the 75th is worth taking seriously.
Lima (OH) leads and Aguadilla (PR) trails, but the gap is modest. For a role like this the more useful comparison is not between cities but between the 10th and 90th percentile within one — see the band above.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lima OH | $85,790 | $41.25 | 3.54 | 470 |
| Urban Honolulu HI | $81,120 | $39.00 | 0.36 | 430 |
| Alaska nonmetropolitan area | $81,000 | $38.94 | 1.57 | 460 |
| Fairbanks-College AK | $80,210 | $38.56 | 0.75 | 70 |
| Balance of Nevada nonmetropolitan area | $79,810 | $38.37 | 1.65 | 400 |
| Baton Rouge LA | $78,170 | $37.58 | 3.36 | 3,690 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford CT | $75,040 | $36.08 | 0.42 | 670 |
| Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area | $74,930 | $36.03 | 2.28 | 1,020 |
| Anchorage AK | $74,000 | $35.58 | 0.53 | 250 |
| Lake Charles LA | $72,920 | $35.06 | 3.55 | 970 |
| East North Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $72,560 | $34.89 | 4.14 | 700 |
| Hawaii / Kauai nonmetropolitan area | $71,860 | $34.55 | 0.16 | 50 |
| Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard WA | $71,720 | $34.48 | 2.96 | 740 |
| Northern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area | $70,860 | $34.07 | 0.42 | 90 |
| Eastern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area | $70,000 | $33.65 | 3.06 | 700 |
| Kahului-Wailuku HI | $67,280 | $32.35 | 0.22 | 40 |
| Portland-South Portland ME | $66,420 | $31.93 | 1.37 | 1,060 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | $66,240 | $31.85 | 0.58 | 3,230 |
| St. Joseph MO-KS | $66,060 | $31.76 | 4.21 | 610 |
| Boulder CO | $65,040 | $31.27 | 0.5 | 260 |
| Kennewick-Richland WA | $64,720 | $31.12 | 0.76 | 260 |
| Alexandria LA | $64,490 | $31.00 | 1.42 | 230 |
| Staunton-Stuarts Draft VA | $64,470 | $30.99 | 2.81 | 390 |
| Western Wyoming nonmetropolitan area | $64,410 | $30.97 | 1.29 | 350 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $64,320 | $30.93 | 0.31 | 1,990 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aguadilla PR | $28,450 | $13.68 | 0.68 | 90 |
| Arecibo PR | $29,380 | $14.13 | 1.57 | 150 |
| Mayaguez PR | $30,230 | $14.54 | 0.48 | 70 |
| San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas PR | $30,390 | $14.61 | 0.67 | 1,240 |
| Ponce PR | $31,680 | $15.23 | 0.61 | 100 |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission TX | $39,710 | $19.09 | 0.43 | 350 |
| Columbus GA-AL | $40,100 | $19.28 | 1.05 | 330 |
| West Delta Mississippi nonmetropolitan area | $40,300 | $19.37 | 3.05 | 750 |
| Southeast Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $41,700 | $20.05 | 1.78 | 400 |
| Texarkana TX-AR | $41,920 | $20.15 | 3.83 | 590 |
East Arkansas nonmetropolitan area has 6.81× the national concentration of welders — the densest market in the country for this role, with 1,240 employed locally. Pay there is $48,410, which does not put it near the top of the pay table. Concentration and compensation are different things — a dense market is easier to get hired in and easier to move around within, but the competition that makes it dense also caps what employers need to offer.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Arkansas nonmetropolitan area | $48,410 | $23.27 | 6.81 | 1,240 |
| Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux LA | $56,990 | $27.40 | 6.03 | 1,350 |
| Elkhart-Goshen IN | $50,950 | $24.49 | 5.86 | 2,000 |
| East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $49,070 | $23.59 | 5.4 | 1,920 |
| Gulfport-Biloxi MS | $63,440 | $30.50 | 5.23 | 2,220 |
| Wausau WI | $55,780 | $26.82 | 5 | 930 |
| Elizabethtown KY | $59,900 | $28.80 | 4.8 | 660 |
| Northeast Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $48,480 | $23.31 | 4.71 | 1,930 |
| Sheboygan WI | $59,460 | $28.59 | 4.57 | 740 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur TX | $59,190 | $28.46 | 4.52 | 1,980 |
| Casper WY | $62,660 | $30.12 | 4.51 | 480 |
| Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $46,750 | $22.47 | 4.36 | 790 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $57,940 | $27.86 | 1.8 | 15,850 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $51,630 | $24.82 | 0.98 | 10,620 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $52,650 | $25.31 | 0.77 | 9,320 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $56,160 | $27.00 | 0.47 | 7,850 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $61,680 | $29.66 | 0.23 | 5,780 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ | $56,540 | $27.18 | 0.86 | 5,440 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell GA | $49,630 | $23.86 | 0.68 | 5,240 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $58,380 | $28.07 | 0.6 | 4,630 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI | $61,880 | $29.75 | 0.88 | 4,600 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MI | $51,810 | $24.91 | 0.9 | 4,580 |
| Tulsa OK | $53,550 | $25.74 | 3.68 | 4,520 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA | $52,050 | $25.02 | 0.83 | 3,810 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 51-4121. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates cover 515 of 528 metropolitan areas — near-complete coverage, which means the ranges above are reliable rather than drawn from a handful of markets. Read the methodology.