Pay as a welder

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Hi all. I feel like I'm blowing up this forum. I just have a million questions.What kind of pay can I expect as an entry level welder? How much can I expect at the height of my career? What kind of employers compensate most?On a welding salary can I go on vacation? Pay to fix my car? Take care of a kid?I know I shouldn't worry about the money. I love welding so far, but I need to know how I'll live. Working unskilled labor jobs, I could pay my bills and that was it. I can't live like that.Thank you.
Reply:More than unskilled labor.Enough burns on your arm that people think you're drug addict.The ones that hire you.Welders never take vacation, don't drive a car and don't have kids.
Reply:How long is a piece of string? Ive had jobs that pay from $300 to $5000  per week,  and many times ive had to go from a well paying job, back to a sweatshop on peanuts, alot of it  depends on how much your willing to sacrifice, the people you know, do you have the skill, and how lucky you are, the best paying job ive had was at a urainium mine in northern Queensland Australia, working 14 hour days in 125 degrees heat on a 4 week on, one off roster
Reply:To many variables to actually answer that question. Depends on what state you're going to be welding in. Depends on the type of welding you're doing. I wouldn't expect to much. You're going to have to start at the bottom and work you're way up. You say you love welding so far but wanna know how you're gonna live, and that you worked skill labor and was only able to pay your bills that was it. If you love welding you will stay with it no matter what and climb the ranks to better pay like most people do. If you're looking for a lot of money to pay your bills and then to have some left over for vacation and to buy stuff that's not gonna happen right from the start.
Reply:Thank you. I have only been welding a short time, and I'm building a passion for it. I just wanted to know realistically how much I'm going to make. I'll likely be welding in Washington, Oregon, or Utah.
Reply:I can vouge for having to take 5 grand in 10 days and drop to peanuts in a hot second. This is a field where you better manage your money well cause if you don't you can put yourself in a bind real quick. It all depends on what you do. If you work in a shop your gonna start low($15) and work your way up unless you have the credentials to earn the high wage off the bat, if they arn't cheap. I was doing boiler tube work for $30 and hour, didn't quite fit me doing all the traveling working overnights. But once you get some valuable experience it's pretty quick to find a job.Miller Maxstar 200 SDPiperliner #10 Gold
Reply:Don't know what the pay is in those areas. Its hard to say what pay would be. Boiler and pipeline is where its at but its hard work, so like smiles said traveling and  overnights is it really worth it. Having credentials to is a plus....pending on state but that right there will cost you. I'm in south Florida and credentials don't mean squat and there's really no infrastructure being built for big money jobs. Shop welder on average here us $15/hr.
Reply:What part of Washington are you in? A girl friend of my wife stopped by a couple weeks ago. She is an Ironworker. She is working 6 / 10s at Bangor sub base. I asked her what scale was now. $34.14 plus benefits. She has been working 6 /10s or more for the last two years.Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:Originally Posted by Sm412Hi all. I feel like I'm blowing up this forum. I just have a million questions.What kind of pay can I expect as an entry level welder? How much can I expect at the height of my career? What kind of employers compensate most?On a welding salary can I go on vacation? Pay to fix my car? Take care of a kid?I know I shouldn't worry about the money. I love welding so far, but I need to know how I'll live. Working unskilled labor jobs, I could pay my bills and that was it. I can't live like that.Thank you.
Reply:Originally Posted by docwelderon a welder's pay my kids went to a private girl's school in manhattan, we went away on vacation at least once a year and i just bought a second home and was able to accumulate a very sizable tdsp.  depending on skill,location and ambition results may vary.
Reply:What kind of welding were you doing? I agree  with CEP.....if you hustle and bust your *** the money will be there in this trade.
Reply:Originally Posted by Stretch561What kind of welding were you doing?
Reply:Sorry about that...I was asking you on what kind of welding you were doing.
Reply:Why on Earth would anyone want to become a welder? I don't do anything but laugh and make jokes on how damn glad I am not to be a welder to our welders.
Reply:Depends on if you are doing production ,structural etc. I would in a ASME tank shop and an entry level welder will start at $21-22 depending if they can read prints or what
Reply:I don't remember my haters but my haters remember me.............I think I would rather be a band saw operator than a welder.
Reply:Originally Posted by Stretch561Sorry about that...I was asking you on what kind of welding you were doing.
Reply:CEP does sound mind numbing. That's like most jobs I do as fab and production at work. Money is good but sometimes Im just so out of it
Reply:Originally Posted by Stretch561CEP does sound mind numbing. That's like most jobs I do as fab and production at work. Money is good but sometimes Im just so out of it
Reply:I am an entry level welder in Dallas/Ft. Worth.  I took a 2 year Associates program at the community college.  I was born and raised in Alaska.  Up there I know that one company is paying 5-6 grand per week.  2 weeks on 2 weeks off.  but they were in layoff rounds right now.  I decided to take a production welder job here in Dallas for the next two years.  TIG welding stainless steel catalytic converters.  Pretty easy, repetitive steps.  I am pulling down about 40k a year for a monday thru friday gig.  Pretty good for this area.  I know that trinity rail in ft worth is offering $15 an hour for flux core.  Not what I want to do.  I believe as with most things alot of it is location, supply , and demand.
Reply:too many thing to take into consideration to give a real world answer, but if u want money, union pipe welders.Got A Few Welders....
Reply:I live on the border of Washington and Oregon right on the Columbia river. There are a significant amount of welding opportunities here, structural and production. My plan was to try to join a union upon graduation. I'm also open to sweat shop production welding for 15/hr to start out, but I'd like to make decent money at some point in my life. It sounds to me that so long as I work hard, those opportunities are there  I'm excited about my future in welding.
Reply:Oh, ship building sounds awesome
Reply:Originally Posted by Sm412Oh, ship building sounds awesome
Reply:Originally Posted by mikecwikWhy on Earth would anyone want to become a welder? I don't do anything but laugh and make jokes on how damn glad I am not to be a welder to our welders.My welding teacher in high school went to Montana his first summer off from teaching. It would have been 1978 and he was making $2000/wk TIG welding pipe. It was most likely some more exotic material as only 2 local Union welders were able to pass the weld test. The last big job he worked on before becoming a teacher was building the Syncrude Canada plant. I asked him one time what he thought was the trickiest material to weld and he said Monel because it has the consistency of butter when it's melted.
Reply:Ironworkers LU 40 NYC our rate for bidding 175.00 per hour. Rate is around 46.00 rest is bennys. Went through 900 people for 115 for World Trade Center. Same at the Tappen Zee.
Reply:Realistically speaking most people will never be good enough  to pull in decent money welding. It's not about the money. If I loved welding I would be fine working a job doing it for minimum wage. I admit I do find welding fascinating but for sure don't want to work as a welder. We had a kid come in supposed to be the best in his class. Can barely mig weld and if you throw him something different he can't weld at all. He is in fantasy land thinking he is going to be welding in the gas industry. He might make it to be an average welder making in the teens.Sent from my SCH-I545 using TapatalkCRIME SCENES, COURT DATES, FUNERALS, RIDING THROUGH THE CITY WITH A BITCH THAT IS JUST BEAUTIFUL IT'S JUST BUSINESS AS USUAL.
Reply:It's like anything, the more effort you put in, the more you'll be rewarded. That needs to be qualified though because some people just aren't made to be welders.
Reply:Most public libraries have general census information.  it can be useful because you can look up the category of jobs in a region as well as the wage scale.  In Canada the census reports are very thorough.  I imagine they are the same in the States and likely available online if you know where to look.  A librarian in any public library will steer you....It's their job and as long as you are not impatient they are very helpful.   I know it is interesting to see the differences in wages across Canada for the same job category.
Reply:Originally Posted by Sm412Hi all. I feel like I'm blowing up this forum. I just have a million questions.What kind of pay can I expect as an entry level welder? How much can I expect at the height of my career? What kind of employers compensate most?On a welding salary can I go on vacation? Pay to fix my car? Take care of a kid?What can I expect as an entry level welder? Less than an entry level fast food worker.I know I shouldn't worry about the money. I love welding so far, but I need to know how I'll live. Working unskilled labor jobs, I could pay my bills and that was it. I can't live like that.Thank you.
Reply:Whatever to do you need to sell yourself. To many people too few jobs. Skip all the bullshlt and marry someone WEALTHY !!!!
Reply:Go for it Sm.Last edited by MrSmooth; 06-19-2015 at 11:17 PM.
Reply:right now life is good if you're a welder in my town. we got a new bridge going up and major renovations on a couple others. i saw 3 cranes when i was looking at the skyline from the park the other day. lot's of opportunity and prevailing wage cash laying around.i.u.o.e. # 15queens, ny and sunny fla
Reply:Originally Posted by docwelderright now life is good if you're a welder in my town. we got a new bridge going up and major renovations on a couple others. i saw 3 cranes when i was looking at the skyline from the park the other day. lot's of opportunity and prevailing wage cash laying around.
Reply:depending on which union about 50 in the envelope and another 50 in fringes. right now i'm working without a contract for 6 years so i got some back dough coming.i.u.o.e. # 15queens, ny and sunny fla
Reply:Originally Posted by docwelderright now i'm working without a contract for 6 years so i got some back dough coming.
Reply:Originally Posted by CEPdoc does your company sign sweet heart agreements with the union? The company I worked for always did. Seems like I was always on jobs that had at least a $250,000.00 a day LDs. So the company wasn’t going to mess around with us going on strike.
Reply:I like to be a welder . has something of magic .
Reply:Originally Posted by denlow60I like to be a welder . has something of magic .
Reply:Thanks for the replies. Reading them I feel like I have a good idea of what to expect in the welding industry. The key I think is becoming the best welder I can be. I want to work in this industry.
Reply:if someone has understanding of welding it's magic but if someone has no understanding of welding then it is roasting and beacon.if you weld different type of material then you should also know about what you are doing .
Reply:production welding will pay the least, field contracting, pipe line, ship yard, union steel erection will pay good. The more remote and difficult the work the better the pay usually is.
Reply:In the UK we don't have anything like welding unions, in fact we have a free reign where we go and how much we charge, I not just a welder though I've done over 30 years fabrication and have build some incredible iconic features all around London. A being "just a welder" is a small part of what i offer., You need to plan ahead and decide what you want to be , say in 10 years time. if you've never done fabrication or worked on site or even priced up your own jobs, then being "just a welder" will probably mean production welding and jig work. One of the lowest rates in this industry. But if you have qualifications, years practical experience and commitment and drive, then there no reason you can't earn top dollar working for yourself.  Usually in London, welders get a decent reputation among firms and most firms will bid good money to get the best welders.Also your measured by your experience and skill and quality of your welding, for example mig, mma and tig, you'll need many years experience to even start earning top money, your never going to do it in 6 weeks, so just decide what you want to do, get qualified, and then you'll find that you can earn decent money and be proud of what you do
Reply:http://www.ironworkers.org/become-an-ironworkerThe pay & benefits are VERY good!
Reply:You just have to wear as many hats as you can.  Get certifications.  Be all that you can be.  You want to weld pipe for sure, tanks, structural, all processes and be willing to travel.  Make sure you marry a woman who can handle the home front while you're away.  Now, I was an electrician and sometimes what's called an electrician welder.  I don't have any welding certifications. An electrician weldor is generally despised by real weldors.  We ain't poop you know?  I just stuck together stanchions to hold switches, made junction boxes, fabricated pipe racks and installed them on structure. Then I would run the pipe, pull the wire, hook up the equipment etc.  In Alaska where I worked 10 years I worked 7/13s. It was 91 hours a week because the foreman gets another hour a day to do paper work.  Forty hours of straight time and 51 hours at time and a half.  Foreman scale was $29 something. It was good money and I loved every minute of the work.  My wife hated it.  It nearly tore us apart, but we made it and she forced me to retire at 55. And I'm Union all the way.  I have the great good fortune that I never had to work a non-union job in my life. This takes sacrifice getting in and every inch of the way.  But it's worth it. I'll tell you one thing.  If I was a young feller just starting out I think I would go after crane certification for the smallest through the biggest cranes there are.  You'll spend some money getting your certs so borrow it.  Get set up that way and the world is your oyster.  You'll have to learn to run graders, loaders, dozers, and elevators along the way but you'll belong to an operating engineers local and you'll have a good life. You'll travel for sure but you'll make good bread and be in demand. Then when you get to be my age your body won't be tore up and you'll still be able play senior soccer and pass for 50 in the bars.DanI hope that when i'm dead and gone, people will remember me and think; "Boy, that guy sure owed me a lot of money!"
Reply:Originally Posted by skyboltoneYou just have to wear as many hats as you can.  Get certifications.  Be all that you can be.  You want to weld pipe for sure, tanks, structural, all processes and be willing to travel.  Make sure you marry a woman who can handle the home front while you're away.  Now, I was an electrician and sometimes what's called an electrician welder.  I don't have any welding certifications. An electrician weldor is generally despised by real weldors.  We ain't poop you know?  I just stuck together stanchions to hold switches, made junction boxes, fabricated pipe racks and installed them on structure. Then I would run the pipe, pull the wire, hook up the equipment etc.  In Alaska where I worked 10 years I worked 7/13s. It was 91 hours a week because the foreman gets another hour a day to do paper work.  Forty hours of straight time and 51 hours at time and a half.  Foreman scale was $29 something. It was good money and I loved every minute of the work.  My wife hated it.  It nearly tore us apart, but we made it and she forced me to retire at 55. And I'm Union all the way.  I have the great good fortune that I never had to work a non-union job in my life. This takes sacrifice getting in and every inch of the way.  But it's worth it. I'll tell you one thing.  If I was a young feller just starting out I think I would go after crane certification for the smallest through the biggest cranes there are.  You'll spend some money getting your certs so borrow it.  Get set up that way and the world is your oyster.  You'll have to learn to run graders, loaders, dozers, and elevators along the way but you'll belong to an operating engineers local and you'll have a good life. You'll travel for sure but you'll make good bread and be in demand. Then when you get to be my age your body won't be tore up and you'll still be able play senior soccer and pass for 50 in the bars.
Reply:I work for a company doing hydronic piping.  It was this company's first shot at doing mechanical work and I negotiated my pay to $34/hr and $50/per diem when out of town.  I use my own machine so I also get a little extra for that as well, I've worked for a lot less.  It's usually feast or famine in this trade, or "from Bologna to t-bones" as another welder friend of mine puts it.  It all depends, I know if your willing to diversify you won't go hungry.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk