Career guide · SOC 51-4121
Welding careers for veterans: slow growth, steady openings and a narrow pay band
Welding is a trade where the headline growth number undersells the hiring. BLS projects 2% growth but tens of thousands of openings a year. The pay range is also the narrowest of the twelve trades we track, which changes how you should plan.
- Median pay, May 2025
- $53,750$25.84/hr[1]
- Middle 50% earn
- $46,790–$63,010
- Openings per year
- 40,3002025–35 avg[2]
- Typical route
- School program or on-the-job training, plus job-specific certification
The pay band is the story
The median welder, cutter, solderer or brazer earned $53,750 in May 2025[1]. The 90th percentile earned $77,530, about 2.0 times the 10th percentile. That ratio is the lowest of the twelve trades we track, essentially level with truck driving and diesel mechanics. In practical terms, the gap between an average welder and a top-tenth welder is smaller than in the electrical or pipe trades.
- 10th percentile$39,240 $18.87/hr
- 25th percentile$46,790 $22.50/hr
- Median$53,750 $25.84/hr
- 75th percentile$63,010 $30.29/hr
- 90th percentile$77,530 $37.28/hr
Spread from 10th to 90th percentile: $38,290. The 90th-percentile worker earns 2.0× the 10th. Mean annual wage: $56,760. Employment covered by the survey: 416,210 (wage and salary jobs; excludes the self-employed).
A narrow band cuts both ways. Starting pay is close to the middle, so you are less likely to spend years far below the median. But the national figures suggest that moving up within general production welding has limits, and that the larger jumps come from changing the kind of work: pipe and structural welding, specialized processes, inspection, or moving into a related trade such as pipefitting or ironwork where welding is one skill among several. BLS does not publish pay by welding specialty, so we cannot put numbers on those paths.
Where welding pays more
The highest state medians were in Alaska ($80,840) and Hawaii ($79,000), well clear of the next group of states in the low-to-mid $60,000s[3]. Concentration is highest in South Dakota, Louisiana, Wyoming, North Dakota and Iowa, states with heavy manufacturing, energy or agricultural-equipment industries. Texas alone had about 12% of all welding jobs in the survey.
Highest state medians
- Alaska $80,840
- Hawaii $79,000
- Connecticut $64,880
- Wyoming $63,820
- Washington $63,020
Most concentrated (LQ)
- South Dakota 2.66
- Louisiana 2.64
- Wyoming 2.46
- North Dakota 2.26
- Iowa 2.22
State medians and location quotients from BLS OEWS, May 2025[3]. Concentration list includes only states with at least 500 jobs in the occupation. Lowest state median: Arkansas at $47,970.
Where the jobs are: top 6 states by employment
| State | Jobs | Median pay | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 52,000 | $53,340 | 1.38 |
| California | 26,060 | $58,060 | 0.53 |
| Ohio | 20,330 | $50,340 | 1.37 |
| Pennsylvania | 17,850 | $52,900 | 1.10 |
| Florida | 16,420 | $50,640 | 0.62 |
| Illinois | 16,260 | $51,320 | 1.00 |
Together these 6 states hold 36% of the national total. Location quotient above 1.0 means the trade is a larger share of local jobs than nationally[3].
Openings despite slow growth
BLS projects 2% employment growth from 2025 to 2035, slower than average, but still expects about 40,300 openings a year, "despite limited employment growth," mostly to replace workers who leave[2]. That is close to the annual openings for HVAC technicians, a field growing more than five times as fast. Replacement demand is the reason, and it is the more stable part of any projection.
- Jobs, 2025
- 437,700
- Projected growth, 2025–35
- 2% (Slower than average)
- Net new jobs, 2025–35
- 10,300
- Openings per year
- 40,300
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook profile: Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers[2]. OOH job counts include self-employed workers and, for some profiles, related occupations, so they run higher than the OEWS wage-survey count above. Openings include replacement of workers who retire or change occupations, which is why they exceed net growth.
Certification matters more than licensing
Unlike electricians and plumbers, most welders do not need a state license, though BLS notes that some states and localities do require one. More common is certification: professional organizations offer courses leading to general certification, and some employers require general or specific certification for particular jobs[2]. Certifications are usually tied to a process, a material and a position, so they tell an employer exactly what you have been tested on.
For veterans, that structure is useful. If your military welding was on a specific material or in specific positions, certification testing is a direct way to turn it into something a civilian employer can read. BLS also notes that some employer-based apprenticeships are aimed at people who have already finished a vocational welding program, while others take entry-level workers with no experience[2].
Military jobs that map over
Military occupations O*NET links to this trade
- Army Welder
- Army Metal Worker
- Marine Corps Metal Worker
- Marine Corps Aircraft Welder
- Navy General Maintenance Welder
- Navy Nuclear Power Plant Components Welder
- Navy Aeronautical Welder
- Air Force Aircraft Metals Technology
A selection from 14 distinct enlisted and officer titles the O*NET Military Crosswalk links to SOC 51-4121 across 5 service categories[4]. A link means O*NET judged the duties related; it is not a credential, and it does not guarantee apprenticeship credit. Search your own code at O*NET's crosswalk to see your full list.
Your military job
| Branch | Codes O*NET links to this trade |
|---|---|
| Army MOS | 44B Metal Worker |
| Navy rating | SW Steelworker HT Hull Maintenance Technician |
| Air Force AFSC | 2A7X1 Aircraft Metals Technology 3E3X1 Structural |
| Marine Corps MOS | 1316 Metal Worker |
| Coast Guard rating | DC Damage Controlman AMT Aviation Maintenance Technician |
| Space Force SFSC | 2A7X1 Aircraft Metals Technology |
Source: O*NET military crosswalk, checked Oct 30, 2026. Each code links to its O*NET crosswalk entry. Branches without a row have no direct O*NET match for this trade.
The crosswalk for welding is short compared with other trades, but it is direct: most titles on it have "welder" or "metal" in the name. Hull technicians and steelworkers, which O*NET also links to structural ironwork, also do substantial welding.
Training and the GI Bill
3,006 GI Bill-approved welding programs show in VA's GI Bill Comparison Tool, including 193 listed as on-the-job training or apprenticeship and 2,813 as school-based non-college-degree programs[5].
Counts compiled from the public Comparison Tool data on October 29, 2026 by an affiliated site (see disclosure). Approval status changes; confirm a specific employer or school in the tool before you rely on it.
Welding is overwhelmingly school-based in VA's data: only a small share of approved programs are on-the-job training. That matches how most people enter the trade, through a vocational or community college program. If you want the paid-while-you-learn route, you will need to look specifically for an employer with a registered, VA-approved program, or look at the pipe trades and ironwork, where welding is taught inside the apprenticeship.
Route from service to journey level
- List the processes, materials and positions you welded in service, and any qualification tests you passed.
- Decide whether you want production welding or a trade where welding is one skill, such as pipefitting or ironwork.
- For school, compare GI Bill-approved programs that include certification testing.
- For a paid route, look for registered apprenticeships or VA-approved on-the-job programs.
- Test for the certifications that match the jobs you are applying to, and keep them current.
Sister site Veteran Trade Schools lists GI Bill-approved welding programs by state.
Sources
- BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national file (oesm25nat.zip). https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm
- BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers (2025–35 projections). https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/welders-cutters-solderers-and-brazers.htm
- BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 state file (oesm25st.zip). https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm
- O*NET OnLine, Military Crosswalk Search (DMDC MOC crosswalk plus O*NET supplements). https://www.onetonline.org/crosswalk/MOC
- VA, GI Bill Comparison Tool (approved-program counts compiled Oct 29, 2026). https://www.va.gov/education/gi-bill-comparison-tool/
Retrieved and checked October 30, 2026. Figures are reproduced as published; where we did arithmetic (ranges, ratios, shares), the inputs are the cited figures.