How much do stick welders make in 2026?
Stick welders are counted in the BLS welders, cutters, solderers and brazers series: OEWS May 2025 gives the SOC 51-4121 national median as $53,750 a year ($25.84 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $39,240 and the top 10% at $77,530. Shielded metal arc welding spans that band more widely than any other process, because the same technique is used by a general maintenance welder patching equipment and by a certified field hand welding structural connections and repair joints to code. What stick offers is tolerance: it works in wind, on rusted or painted material, in awkward positions and far from a power source, which is why it remains the process of choice for field repair, mining and agricultural maintenance, heavy structural field work and much pressure and pipe repair. Pay accordingly follows positional qualification and code acceptance rather than the process itself — a welder qualified in all positions on low-hydrogen electrodes, with documented procedure qualification and the ability to pass radiographic testing on field joints, earns far more than a bench welder using the same machine. Employment is projected to grow 2.2% through 2034 with roughly 45,600 openings a year. → Full stick welder career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $53,750 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Stick Welders earn a national median $53,750/yr ($25.84/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 51-4121); the P10 to P90 range is $39,240 to $77,530.
- Stick welding sits inside the pooled SOC 51-4121 series and spans its $39,240 to $77,530 band more widely than other processes, from general maintenance patching to code-qualified field welding.
- SMAW remains dominant where conditions are hostile — wind, contamination, out-of-position work, no clean power — which is why field repair, mining, agriculture and heavy structural work still rely on it.
- Positional qualification on low-hydrogen electrodes and the ability to pass radiographic testing on field joints, not the process itself, is what puts a stick welder in the upper half of the band.
US Stick Welder Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do stick welders earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 51-4121; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 51-4121, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a stick welder earn at each career stage?
Stick welding pay is set by positions qualified, code acceptance and whether you can work unsupervised in the field. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 51-4121.
By State
Which states pay stick welders the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations. Stick welding demand is concentrated where heavy assets live: mining and quarry regions, agricultural belts, energy corridors and industrial districts pay field welders above the modeled figure, and travel-based work is priced by project rather than by the local index.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($61,810), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay stick welders the most?
Metro figures are modeled — national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. This is one of the trades where the metro premium is least relevant: much of the best-paid stick work is on remote equipment and structures, compensated through call-out rates, mileage and per diem.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a stick welder’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does stick welder pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Stick Welders sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify stick welder wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a stick welder actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Stick Welder Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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