What does a Commercial Welder earn?

We place this role between $47,000 and $77,000 a year at mid experience, before overtime, bonus and on-call. The federal occupation this role reports under is Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers (SOC 51-4121), May 2025.

What credentials should a Commercial Welder have?

The credentials that command a premium in this seat are AWS Certification. Requirements vary by state and by what the job actually involves, so treat these as what moves an offer rather than a legal minimum.

WELDING & FABRICATION - ROLE PROFILE

Commercial Welder

We place this role between $47,000 and $77,000 a year at mid experience, before overtime, bonus and on-call.

What this role pays.

That band is mid experience, built from our own engagement history. Experience and region move it - the salary calculator applies both.

The federal occupation this role reports under is Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers (SOC 51-4121), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $53,750 , with the middle of the market between $39,240 and $77,530. BLS counts this job inside that occupation rather than publishing it separately, so the figures cover a slightly wider group than this exact title.

Where it pays most.

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 112 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.

Highest-paying metros - Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
Metro	Median	Employed there
urban honolulu hi	$81,120	430
Baton Rouge	$78,170	3,690
Hartford	$75,040	670
Seattle	$66,240	3,230
boulder co	$65,040	260
San Francisco	$64,320	1,990
San Jose	$64,140	1,050
Boston	$63,770	2,210
McAllen	$39,710	350
Huntsville	$44,020	1,810
El Paso	$45,000	650

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.

Credentials that move an offer.

AWS Certification

Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The Welding & Fabrication hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.

What the search actually takes.

We have closed 0 welding & fabrication searches in 2026 year to date, which is below the 8 we require before publishing a median. We would rather print the count than a number the sample cannot carry. The Hiring Index shows what we do and do not have.

Keep reading.

2026 Welding & Fabrication Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
Welding & Fabrication recruiting - how we run this trade.
Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
Welding & Fabrication hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.

All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.

Hiring a Commercial Welder? Schedule a call.

What changed in your trade this month, and what to do about it.

One email a month, and only one. We write a separate issue for every trade we recruit in, so you get yours - not a round-up with your trade buried in paragraph nine. Every issue is written for the person actually doing the hiring.

Where wages moved in your trade, by market, and what that does to your next offer

How long roles like yours are taking to fill, and where it is getting worse

Interview and screening tactics that are landing candidates this month

What contractors competing for the same people are doing differently

Built on federal wage data, our own closed searches, and what we hear on the desk every week. Written for employers, not candidates. No pitch, no filler, one click to leave.