Welding salary: $150K median
The median advertised Welding salary is $150K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $118K to $172K: counted from 268 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $72 an hour or $12,500 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $209K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll Welding jobs
$150Kmedian advertised salary
$118K – $172Kmiddle half of roles
$156Kaverage advertised salary
268roles counted
Welding salary by level
Lead roles advertise a median of $208K, 22% more than senior roles ($172K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.
| Level | Median salary | Middle half | Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $172K | $158K–$188K | 76 |
| Lead and above | $208K | $188K–$222K | 33 |
| No level in the title | $128K | $115K–$150K | 158 |
Welding salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $208K | 22 |
| 🇺🇸California | $154K | 198 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $150K | 259 |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA | $142K | 92 |
Skills that pay more for Welding roles
| Skill | Median with it | Above the median | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procurement | $171K | +$21K | 38 |
| Sensor fusion | $170K | +$20K | 46 |
| Security clearance | $170K | +$20K | 45 |
| Computer Vision | $170K | +$20K | 46 |
| Composites | $165K | +$15K | 36 |
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| Lambda | $330K | 6 |
| Shield AI | $222K | 4 |
| Cowboyspace | $188K | 11 |
| Lucid Motors | $174K | 6 |
| Varda Space Industries | $172K | 13 |
| Anduril Industries | $170K | 46 |
| Apex Technology | $158K | 3 |
| Vast | $154K | 19 |
| Harbinger Motors Inc. | $150K | 4 |
| Astranis | $148K | 4 |
| Crusoe | $145K | 6 |
| Archer | $142K | 3 |
| Amca | $142K | 3 |
| Rocket Lab | $140K | 7 |
| Hermeus | $140K | 10 |
| General Matter | $139K | 6 |
| ALTEN Technology USA | $130K | 3 |
| Formic | $128K | 3 |
| PsiQuantum | $127K | 4 |
| Valar Atomics | $124K | 5 |
| K2 Space | $120K | 5 |
| SpaceX | $115K | 49 |
| Gotion | $100K | 4 |
Highest-paying open Welding roles
All Welding jobs- Staff Software Engineer - Infrastructure StorageLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$314K - $465KHybridLead and aboveRustC++Machine Learning
- Staff Software Engineer - Managed KubernetesLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$314K - $465KHybridLead and abovePythonMachine LearningLinux
- Senior Staff/Principal Software Engineer - GPU System Software, Onboard ExecutionZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$339K - $455KLead and aboveC++LinuxCUDA
- Component and Product Quality Engineer, InterconnectsOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$207K - $365KHybridData centersPerformance managementHardware testing
- Director of Engineering, ComputeTemporal · 🇺🇸United States (Remote)$214K - $352KRemoteLead and aboveGCPKubernetesAWS
- Fabrication Shop ManagerSesame · Bellevue$175K - $280KOpticsCNC machiningGD&T
- Principal M&P Engineer, MetallicsArcher · 🇺🇸San Jose, California, United States$219K - $274KLead and aboveAWSTest planningPRDs
- Staff Supplier Development Engineer - Structures & Welding (R5984)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$178K - $267KLead and aboveAWSSecurity clearanceSix Sigma certification
- Staff Supplier Development Engineer - Mechanical (R5984)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Dallas, TX, US$178K - $267KLead and aboveERPCADProcurement
- Principal Solution Specialist, Core ServicesCoreWeave · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA / Seattle, WA$198K - $264KLead and abovePyTorchKubernetesDistributed training
- Principal Manufacturing Engineer (Propulsion)Varda Space Industries · 🇺🇸El Segundo, California, United States$182K - $263KLead and aboveTest equipmentCNC machiningBlueprint reading
- Principal Manufacturing Engineer (Structures)Varda Space Industries · 🇺🇸El Segundo, California, United States$182K - $263KLead and aboveCADGD&TBlueprint reading
- Mechanical Engineer, SystemsDensityAI · 🇺🇸Mountain View, California, United States$170K - $260KHigh-performance computingAnalog designCAD
- Senior Mechanical EngineerApplied · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale$150K - $260KSeniorFirmwareLidarCAD
- Staff Welding EngineerAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Santa Ana, California, United States$166K - $251KLead and aboveAWSComputer VisionSecurity clearance
- Technical Specialist, CoverstockLucid Motors · 🇺🇸Newark, CA$166K - $244KWelding
- Senior Manager, Mechanical EngineeringAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Irvine, California, United States$183K - $243KSeniorComputer VisionSecurity clearanceMechatronics
- Senior Specialist Field Engineer - KubernetesCoreWeave · 🇺🇸San Francisco. CA / Sunnyvale, CA / Bellevue, WA$182K - $242KSeniorRustGoKubernetes
- Sr. Global Supply Manager (Falcon/Dragon/Starfall)SpaceX · 🇺🇸Hawthorne, CA$165K - $240KSeniorExcelSAPContract negotiation
- Senior Manager, Supplier QualityValar Atomics · 🇺🇸Torrance, California, United States$190K - $240KSeniorAuditProcurementCNC machining
Questions about Welding pay
- What is the average Welding salary?
- $156K a year on average and $150K at the median, across 268 open Welding postings at companies that state pay (November 2026). The median is the better guide: a few very high offers pull the average up.
- What is the typical range?
- The middle half of the postings offer $118K to $172K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest Welding pay?
- Lambda ($330K), Shield AI ($222K), Cowboyspace ($188K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a welding a high-paying job?
- The median Welding posting advertises $150K a year, less than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 14% below the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a welding?
- A tenth of the postings offer $209K a year or more; the highest open Welding role advertises up to $465K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the Welding salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $150K a year is about $72 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $12,500 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $57 to $83 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for Welding roles?
- Postings that ask for Procurement (+$21K, 38 postings), Sensor fusion (+$20K, 46 postings), Security clearance (+$20K, 45 postings) advertise more than the $150K median of all Welding postings with pay.
- Where do these figures come from?
- From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.
Writing about this? A sentence you can quote
The median advertised salary for Welding roles at companies is $150K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $118K to $172K. Counted from 268 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/welding/
Free to use with the link.