How Much Do Welders Make in Pennsylvania?
Welders in Pennsylvania earned a median of $52,900 a year in May 2025, or $25.43 an hour, close to the national median of $53,750. Pay is highest in the Philadelphia metro, at a $58,380 median, and lowest in Johnstown, at $46,780. The top tenth of Pennsylvania welders earned $74,870 or more.
Pennsylvania welders earned a median of $52,900 a year in May 2025, or $25.43 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s just under the national median of $53,750.
The average (mean) was $56,300. About 17,850 people worked as welders, cutters, solderers and brazers in the state.
The bigger story is geography. A welder in the Philadelphia metro earned a median of $58,380, while a welder in Johnstown earned $46,780. Where you settle matters as much as how you train.
Pay in Every Pennsylvania Metro
Here are the May 2025 figures for each metro area in the BLS data, from highest median to lowest.
| Metro area | Median salary | Median hourly | Top 10% earn more than | Welders employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | $58,380 | $28.07 | $79,960 | 4,630 |
| York-Hanover | $55,070 | $26.48 | $73,860 | 730 |
| Reading | $54,840 | $26.36 | $70,720 | 870 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | $54,790 | $26.34 | $74,820 | 860 |
| Lancaster | $54,370 | $26.14 | $73,900 | 1,270 |
| Pittsburgh | $53,610 | $25.78 | $75,780 | 3,600 |
| Chambersburg | $53,340 | $25.64 | $71,650 | 510 |
| Harrisburg-Carlisle | $52,330 | $25.16 | $74,430 | 420 |
| Altoona | $51,540 | $24.78 | $63,460 | 170 |
| State College | $51,030 | $24.54 | $64,950 | 140 |
| Lebanon | $50,920 | $24.48 | $65,600 | 250 |
| Erie | $49,180 | $23.64 | $83,450 | 740 |
| Scranton-Wilkes-Barre | $49,090 | $23.60 | $72,420 | 560 |
| Gettysburg | $49,010 | $23.56 | $73,010 | 110 |
| Williamsport | $48,130 | $23.14 | $69,390 | 160 |
| Johnstown | $46,780 | $22.49 | $62,490 | 170 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The Philadelphia and Allentown metros include parts of neighboring states.
The pattern is easy to see. The southeast, from Philadelphia out through York, Reading, Allentown and Lancaster, pays the most. The northern and central metros, like Williamsport, Scranton and Johnstown, pay the least.
Philadelphia: The Highest Pay and the Most Jobs
The Philadelphia metro employed 4,630 welders, more than any other metro in the state, at a median of $58,380 ($28.07 an hour). The top tenth earned $79,960 or more.
If you want to train here, you have two very different routes. Philadelphia Technician Training runs a 26-week program with morning and evening sections, and it conferred 119 welding awards in 2024–25, the most in Pennsylvania. Delaware County Community College in Media offers a credit certificate you can finish part-time in the evenings over six semesters.
Compare every option on the Philadelphia welding schools page.
Pittsburgh and the West
Pittsburgh is the state’s second-largest welding market, with 3,600 welders and a median of $53,610. The top tenth earned $75,780 or more, a bit above the state’s top-tenth figure.
Western Pennsylvania has a strong supply of training. The Community College of Allegheny County has the lowest in-district tuition in the state and a certificate focused on welding for gas and oil work. Rosedale Technical College runs an 8-month program that covers pipe welding and prepares you for AWS and American Petroleum Institute qualifications. Find more on the Pittsburgh welding schools page.
Erie is the outlier in the west. Its median of $49,180 sits below the state figure, but its top tenth earned $83,450 or more, the highest ceiling of any Pennsylvania metro. Experienced welders there can do well.
Central and Northern Pennsylvania: Lower Medians, Strong Schools
Some of the state’s best-known welding schools sit in metros where the median is below the state figure. That doesn’t make them a bad choice. It means you should think about where you’ll work after you finish, not only where you’ll train.
Williamsport. Pennsylvania College of Technology offers a welding certificate, an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree in welding and fabrication engineering technology. It conferred 68 welding awards in 2024–25. The local median was $48,130, but a bachelor’s degree points you toward engineering-technology roles rather than hands-on welding alone.
Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. The metro median was $49,090, with the top tenth at $72,420 or more. Johnson College in Scranton offers a 30-credit certificate and a 65-credit associate degree in welding fabrication and manufacturing, and Luzerne County Community College in Nanticoke offers daytime and evening sections.
Harrisburg. The Harrisburg-Carlisle median was $52,330, close to the state figure. Harrisburg Area Community College teaches robotic and automated welding alongside the manual processes.
Johnstown. The lowest-paying metro in the data, at $46,780. Commonwealth Technical Institute trains there in a 12-month diploma and reported an 86% graduation rate. If you train there, you can look east or toward Pittsburgh once you’re qualified.
If you train in one of these areas and you’re willing to relocate, the metro table above shows how much a move toward Philadelphia, York or Lancaster can change your pay.
How Pennsylvania Compares With the Rest of the Country
Pennsylvania’s welder pay sits close to the national numbers at every step:
- Bottom 10%: $40,510 in Pennsylvania, against $39,240 nationally
- Bottom 25%: $47,240, against $46,790
- Median: $52,900, against $53,750
- Top 25%: $61,920, against $63,010
- Top 10%: $74,870, against $77,530
So new welders in Pennsylvania start slightly ahead of the national figure, and the most experienced welders finish slightly behind it. If you’re comparing pay across states, the national welder salary table shows where Pennsylvania lands.
What Pennsylvania offers is volume. Its location quotient for welders was 1.1 in May 2025, meaning welding makes up a larger share of jobs here than it does nationally. More welding jobs means more chances to move between employers for better pay.
What Moves You From the Bottom of the Range to the Top
In Pennsylvania, the gap between the bottom tenth ($40,510) and the top tenth ($74,870) of welders is large. The BLS doesn’t say who lands where, but the way welding jobs are filled points to a few steps that help.
Add processes. A welder who can run stick, MIG, TIG and flux-cored, and read blueprints, can apply for more jobs than one who knows a single process. Most Pennsylvania programs teach all four.
Learn pipe. Pipe welding tests are harder to pass, and pipe work is a common route to higher pay. Schools that teach it include Rosedale, Penn Commercial Business/Technical School in Washington, which tests students to ASME IX on pipe, and the Laurel schools’ pipeline programs.
Hold current certifications. Employers often test you before hiring. Passing an AWS D1.1 structural test or an ASME pipe test before you apply puts you ahead. Several schools, including Westmoreland County Community College and Welder Training and Testing Institute, test on site.
Move toward the southeast or into a related trade. Outside degree-based roles, the biggest pay gains in the data come from working in the Philadelphia area or moving into ironwork or supervision.
Welding Jobs That Pay More in Pennsylvania
A welding background opens doors to several better-paid trades. These Pennsylvania medians are from May 2025:
| Career | Pennsylvania median | Median hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Ironworker | $82,970 | $39.89 |
| Welding supervisor | $74,990 | $36.05 |
| Millwright | $64,410 | $30.96 |
| Welding instructor | $63,160 | $30.37 |
| Welding engineer | $108,950 | $52.38 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Each career uses the closest BLS occupation, so figures cover the broader group.
Ironwork stands out. Pennsylvania ironworkers earned a median of $82,970, far above the welder median, and welding is a core ironworker skill. Millwrights, who install and repair industrial machinery, earned $64,410. Teaching pays well here too: the median for career and technical instructors was $63,160, above the welder median.
Not every step up pays more. The median for the inspector group that includes welding inspectors was $48,320, below the welder median.
Training Near the Better-Paying Metros
If you want to work in the southeast, where pay runs highest, these schools put you close to it:
- Lancaster: Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology offers a 9-month certificate and two associate degrees, and reported a 71% graduation rate. The Lancaster metro median was $54,370.
- Lehigh Valley: Northampton County Area Community College in Bethlehem offers day and evening classes, and Welder Training and Testing Institute in Allentown runs a 900-hour welder fitter program in an AWS Accredited Test Facility. The Allentown metro median was $54,790. See the Northampton welding schools page.
- York: York County School of Technology’s adult program trains in an AWS-accredited facility in under a year and conferred 54 welding awards in 2024–25. The York-Hanover median was $55,070.
Before you pick a school, check what it costs in the Pennsylvania welding school cost guide, and compare every program on the best welding schools in Pennsylvania page. To see which certifications help you reach the upper end of these ranges, read the welding certification guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Do Welders Make an Hour in Pennsylvania?
The median hourly wage for Pennsylvania welders was $25.43 in May 2025. In the Philadelphia metro it was $28.07, and in Pittsburgh it was $25.78.
What Do Beginning Welders Earn in Pennsylvania?
The BLS doesn't report pay by experience, but the bottom tenth of Pennsylvania welders earned $40,510 or less and the bottom quarter earned $47,240 or less in May 2025. That's slightly higher than the same points nationally.
Which Pennsylvania City Pays Welders the Most?
The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro had the highest median, $58,380. Erie had the highest top-end pay: its top tenth earned $83,450 or more, even though its median was $49,180.
How Many Welders Work in Pennsylvania?
About 17,850 welders, cutters, solderers and brazers worked in Pennsylvania in May 2025. The Philadelphia metro employed 4,630 and Pittsburgh employed 3,600.
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