How to Become a Welder

What Does a Welder Do?

Welders join metal parts with heat, most often with arc processes. BLS lists the core tasks as studying blueprints, inspecting the materials to be welded, welding to specification, monitoring and adjusting heat, and maintaining equipment. Some welders specialize in one process; others handle cutting, soldering and brazing too.

Welding is precision work with heat. BLS describes welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers as workers who use hand-held or remotely controlled equipment to join or cut metal parts, and to fill holes, dents or seams in metal products. On a typical shift you would:

• Read and interpret blueprints, sketches and specifications before striking an arc
• Calculate and measure the dimensions of the parts to be joined
• Inspect the structure or material you're about to weld
• Weld to the blueprint's specifications
• Watch the weld as it forms and adjust heat as needed
• Maintain your equipment and machinery

Welders choose a process based on factors such as the metals being joined. In arc welding, a machine produces an electric current that creates the heat to fuse the metals. Cutters use an electric arc, a plasma stream or burning gases to trim metal to size, and they also take apart large objects such as ships, railroad cars and buildings.

Soldering and brazing join metal with a melted filler at lower temperatures than welding; soldering uses the lowest. Solderers often work on small, precisely placed parts such as computer chips, while brazers join dissimilar metals and may apply coatings that reduce wear and corrosion. Some workers specialize in one discipline; others do all of them.

Where Welders Work and What the Job Is Like

Most welding jobs are in manufacturing, which BLS says employed 63% of welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in 2025. The rest work for specialty trade contractors, in repair and maintenance, or for themselves. The setting ranges from outdoor work in every kind of weather to indoor booths built to contain sparks and glare, and some jobs put you on a scaffold or platform high off the ground.

The work is physical. You may lift heavy parts and weld in awkward positions: overhead, bent over, stooping or standing for long stretches. The hazards are fumes, very hot material and the intense light of the arc, so welders follow safety procedures and wear helmets, hearing protection and heat-resistant gloves.

Most welders work full time and some work more than 40 hours a week. Many manufacturers run two or three 8- to 12-hour shifts a day so production can continue around the clock, which means evening and weekend shifts are common.

How to Become a Welder: Step by Step

1. 1
   Get technical training

   BLS notes that training is available through high school technical education, vocational-technical institutes, community colleges and private welding schools. A certificate focuses on shop time; an associate degree adds advanced processes, inspection and general education.

2. 2
   Learn the four core processes

   Programs build skill in shielded metal arc (stick), gas metal arc (MIG), flux-cored and gas tungsten arc (TIG) welding, plus blueprint reading and cutting.

3. 3
   Pass a weld test

   The AWS Certified Welder program is performance-based with no prerequisite courses: if you can make the test weld, you can earn the credential at an AWS Accredited Test Facility. Many employers run their own procedure test instead.

How to Become a Welder: Training and Education

BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent, combined with technical and on-the-job training, as the typical way in. Employers often prefer or require technical training, which you can get in high school technical education classes, at vocational-technical institutes, at community colleges or at private welding schools. The U.S. Armed Forces also offer welding-related training.

Blueprint reading, shop math and mechanical drawing courses help, and so does a working understanding of electricity. Some people start through an employer-based apprenticeship; a few apprenticeships take people with no experience, while others are aimed at graduates of a vocational welding program.

Some employers hire inexperienced workers and train them on the job, but many prefer applicants who have finished a training or credentialing program. Even with formal training, expect several months of on-the-job training when you start. OSHA requires welders to complete electrical safety training.

Welding school is widely available: 892 U.S. colleges and schools conferred 50,572 welding certificates and degrees in 2022–23 (IPEDS). Find welding schools by state and city or compare verified programs.

Licenses and Credentials

Some states and localities license welders, and the requirements vary, so check with your state or local licensing agency. Professional organizations offer courses that lead to general certification, and some employers require a general or specific certification for particular jobs. Employers sometimes pay for the training and testing.

Welder Certification

The AWS Certified Welder program is open to anyone who can make the weld. The test is strictly performance-based, so there are no prerequisite courses or certifications. You schedule it at an AWS Accredited Test Facility, where you weld to a procedure and an AWS Certified Welding Inspector inspects the result. The facility also checks that you follow the Welding Procedure Specification, including fit-up, assembly and positioning.

Tests cover procedures used in structural steel, petroleum pipelines, sheet metal and chemical refinery welding, and each certification you add widens the jobs you can take. If you fail, you can retest at any time. After you pass, the facility sends your application to AWS, and AWS says your digital credential usually arrives two to three weeks after it receives the application. To keep it, you buy an annual WeldCert Pro subscription and submit a maintenance (continuity) record before expiration showing you've used the process.

Skills That Matter in This Job

Attention to detail

Precision work, often along straight edges, and the ability to see the joint and read changes in the molten metal.

Manual dexterity

A steady hand to hold the torch in place and good hand-eye coordination.

Physical stamina

Long periods in awkward positions while bending, stooping or standing.

Physical strength

Lifting heavy metal pieces and moving welding or cutting equipment.

Spatial skills

Reading two- and three-dimensional diagrams so parts fit correctly.

Where the Career Leads

Welders who add processes, positions and code tests qualify for more kinds of work. With years of welding-based experience, the AWS inspector, supervisor and educator credentials open paths into inspection, crew leadership and teaching.

Welder Salary and Job Outlook

Half of welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers earned more than $53,750 in May 2025, about $25.84 an hour. The middle half earned between $46,790 and $63,010, across 416,210 jobs in the wage survey. BLS projects employment to change +2.4% from 2025 to 2035, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations, with about 40,300 openings a year as workers retire or change jobs.

National annual wages for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (SOC 51-4121). Sources: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35.

Welder Salary by State

Alaska pays welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers the most, a median of $80,840, and Puerto Rico the least, $30,220. The top 10% earn the most in Alaska (more than $109,940).

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers, SOC 51-4121, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, state estimates. States where BLS suppressed the median are omitted; blank cells were suppressed.

Best-Paying Metro Areas: Lima Leads

Among metro areas with at least 100 welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers jobs, Lima (OH) has the highest median pay, $85,790 a year.

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers, SOC 51-4121. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, metropolitan area estimates, May 2025.

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