How To Make The Most Money As A Welder

The Highest Welder Salaries In the US

Where Welders Make the Most Money

May 5, 2020 by Emsi Burning Glass

A few years ago, we published an article on the top states where the top-earning welders make the most money: which states boast the highest welder salaries? How much do welders make per hour in each state?

The article featured a series on jobs started by USA Today , which used Emsi data to focus on middle-skill fields, like welding, that students could prepare for with a community college education. The article also featured a piece by The Wall Street Journal about a 24-year-old Texan who made $140,000 in 2014 as a welder after graduating from Texas State Technical College.

The original version of our article turned out to be so popular, we decided to review the data and update it. Plus, with many people returning to higher education to upskill or change their field of work due to current economic upheavals, it's good to remember that it doesn't always take a four-year degree to land a good career and comfortable income.

When we wrote this article back in 2015, the data compared the 2013 earnings of the top 10th percentile of welders in the top and bottom 6 states for welders with the median earnings in those states.

At the time this data was pulled, welders in the top 10th percentile made the most in Alaska, at $43.83 per hour. Hawaii and North Dakota followed close behind ($39.75 and $39.05, respectively). Top-end welder salaries in these states make $83,000 to $91,000 per year if they work full time (40 hours per week for 52 weeks).

Including Alaska, Hawaii, and North Dakota, the top 6 states for welders were:

Alaska
Hawaii
North Dakota
West Virginia
Wyoming
Nevada

The bottom 6 states were:

Tennessee
Vermont
Nebraska
Arkansas
Iowa
South Dakota

What does the most recent data tell us?

welder salary, how much do welders make

Using data from Q1 of 2020, the current top 6 states are:

Alaska
New Mexico
Wyoming
West Virginia
Hawaii
Massachusetts

The bottom 6 are:

Kentucky
Nebraska
Georgia
Idaho
South Dakota
Iowa

Alaska remains in the top spot, but Hawaii and North Dakota have dropped into fifth and eighth place, respectively, and New Mexico leap-frogged 4 other states for second place. But there's still more we can look at when analyzing welder salaries.

In this data pull, we added another layer of analysis: cost of living (CoL). Welders might make the most money in Alaska, but how far will that money get you in Alaska, based on how expensive it is to live there? When welders earnings are adjusted for cost of living, we get an entirely different result.

State Name	Median Hourly Earnings	Pct. 90 Hourly Earnings	COL Adjusted Pct. 90 Hourly Earnings	2015 Jobs	2020 Jobs	2015 - 2020 Change	2015 - 2020 % Change	2020 Location Quotient
New Mexico	$22.37	$45.65	$44.19	1,806	1,839	33	2%	0.81
Wyoming	$27.46	$43.84	$41.59	1,906	1,845	(61)	(3%)	2.46
West Virginia	$19.96	$39.56	$40.91	2,299	2,467	168	7%	1.31
Louisiana	$24.53	$37.42	$38.11	14,807	12,937	(1,870)	(13%)	2.46
North Dakota	$22.57	$37.85	$35.41	2,386	2,404	18	1%	2.08
Delaware	$24.74	$37.93	$34.86	615	705	90	15%	0.57
Alaska	$32.12	$46.27	$34.76	666	542	(124)	(19%)	0.62
Texas	$20.87	$33.21	$34.24	50,857	52,856	1,999	4%	1.54
Oklahoma	$19.94	$31.54	$33.73	9,850	10,420	570	6%	2.36
Mississippi	$20.70	$29.60	$33.30	5,875	5,843	(32)	(1%)	1.89
Utah	$19.69	$33.53	$32.30	4,268	4,908	640	15%	1.17
Arkansas	$18.02	$28.53	$32.13	4,856	5,321	465	10%	1.60
Nevada	$21.64	$36.42	$31.98	1,594	2,002	408	26%	0.52
New York	$21.25	$35.60	$31.73	10,295	10,292	(3)	(0%)	0.39
Colorado	$22.37	$35.08	$31.13	4,827	5,167	340	7%	0.69
Missouri	$18.17	$27.66	$30.63	9,187	10,378	1,191	13%	1.36
South Carolina	$19.63	$30.35	$30.59	6,536	7,283	747	11%	1.25
Kansas	$19.61	$30.28	$30.49	6,299	6,475	176	3%	1.71
Washington	$23.93	$34.35	$30.05	8,158	8,753	595	7%	0.94
Ohio	$18.94	$27.71	$29.96	17,343	18,837	1,494	9%	1.28
Montana	$19.27	$30.48	$29.88	1,193	1,306	113	9%	1.02
Massachusetts	$24.02	$38.94	$29.84	3,381	3,416	35	1%	0.35
North Carolina	$19.04	$28.01	$29.77	9,345	10,536	1,191	13%	0.86
Pennsylvania	$19.59	$30.03	$29.76	15,741	16,201	460	3%	1.01
Illinois	$19.28	$29.75	$29.75	12,940	13,023	83	1%	0.80
Alabama	$19.01	$27.84	$29.71	9,011	9,672	661	7%	1.79
Hawaii	$27.89	$39.01	$29.55	597	551	(46)	(8%)	0.31
Arizona	$19.21	$29.57	$29.54	4,938	5,607	669	14%	0.71
Connecticut	$24.72	$37.61	$29.50	2,493	2,520	27	1%	0.56
Tennessee	$18.86	$27.27	$29.48	9,320	10,048	728	8%	1.21
Virginia	$22.25	$29.81	$29.43	8,852	8,922	70	1%	0.83
Michigan	$18.01	$26.54	$29.39	12,204	13,911	1,707	14%	1.17
Indiana	$18.51	$27.84	$29.21	12,692	14,428	1,736	14%	1.72
Minnesota	$21.17	$29.66	$29.11	9,135	9,702	567	6%	1.23
Rhode Island	$23.48	$36.64	$28.87	1,343	1,372	29	2%	1.04
Maryland	$23.06	$35.93	$28.27	2,533	2,562	29	1%	0.35
Kentucky	$18.40	$26.18	$28.06	6,402	6,834	432	7%	1.32
Wisconsin	$20.45	$28.01	$28.01	14,870	15,650	780	5%	1.99
Florida	$18.19	$27.04	$26.80	12,952	14,622	1,670	13%	0.60
Georgia	$17.33	$24.90	$26.66	10,241	12,082	1,841	18%	0.98
New Jersey	$21.47	$32.33	$26.65	4,459	4,671	212	5%	0.42
Oregon	$21.30	$30.12	$26.21	4,408	4,924	516	12%	0.92
New Hampshire	$22.31	$32.31	$26.04	888	935	47	5%	0.52
Nebraska	$19.51	$26.03	$25.57	4,123	4,211	88	2%	1.57
Idaho	$17.47	$24.86	$25.01	2,834	3,322	488	17%	1.62
Maine	$23.83	$29.56	$25.01	1,694	1,758	64	4%	1.05
California	$20.56	$32.98	$24.70	26,928	28,306	1,378	5%	0.59
Iowa	$18.54	$24.08	$24.57	7,457	7,646	189	3%	1.80
South Dakota	$18.00	$24.17	$24.05	2,729	3,041	312	11%	2.60
Vermont	$19.63	$28.95	$23.65	382	356	(26)	(7%)	0.42
				380,518	403,409	22,891	6%

When adjusted for cost of living, the data shows us that New Mexico takes the top spot, with the top 10th percentile of welders making $45.65/hour before CoL adjustment, and $44.19 after CoL adjustment. While welders in Alaska might make the most money, that money has less purchasing power than in other states. This illustrates the importance of considering cost of living when comparing wages across different geographic areas (an important concept we've written about before ).

When comparing the most recent data with data from 2013, the last question to ask is, "Have these jobs grown since we last covered them?" In all but four states and the District of Columbia, the answer is, "Yes!" And in 23 states, there have been over 1,000 openings annually since 2013. The opportunities for high-wage, high-skills jobs without needing a four-year degree are still out there.

Want to see the most recent job postings data for welders? Check out our Job Postings Dashboard , where you can search job postings data by occupation, as well as by industry, company, job title, and skills.

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