Welder Salary in Louisiana 2026,
$62,250 Median | BLS Data by City

Louisiana welders earn a median $62,250/yr ($29.93/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025, about 15.8% above the $53,750 national median. The statewide range runs from roughly $42,810 (P10) to $81,750 (P90). Baton Rouge pays the most at $78,170, and Lafayette is the lowest of the major metros at $57,750.

Baton Rouge leads at about $78,170, the highest metro welder median in the Gulf South, because the river corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans holds one of the densest concentrations of refineries and chemical plants in the country. Lake Charles ($72,920) follows on LNG export construction and maintenance.

No. Louisiana issues no state welder licence. Employers hire on AWS certification and on code weld tests, an AWS Certified Welder card for structural work, and ASME Section IX 6G qualification for the pressure and process piping that refineries, chemical plants and LNG terminals run on.

Roughly $15,060/yr. An AWS certified welder in Louisiana sits at the $62,250 state median, while a 6G-qualified pipe welder reaches about $77,310, the state P75. In the petrochemical corridor that gap widens further once turnaround overtime and per-diem are counted.

Louisiana replaced its graduated brackets with a flat 3% rate for tax years beginning in 2025. For a welder, the practical effect is that turnaround overtime is no longer taxed at a rising state marginal rate, so a heavy overtime year keeps a larger share of every extra hour than it would have under the old bracket structure.

Louisiana ($62,250) beats Texas ($53,340) by nearly $9,000 for the same SOC code because Louisiana's welding employment is concentrated in petrochemical, refinery and LNG work, while Texas has a much larger and lower-paid general fabrication and production base diluting its median. On a like-for-like basis the corridor plants pay similarly; the state medians differ because the job mix does.

A large share, and none of it is in the BLS figures. Refinery and chemical-plant turnarounds run on 6-day, 10- to 12-hour schedules with overtime at 1.5x plus per-diem for travelling welders. A 6G welder who chases turnarounds along the corridor routinely earns well above the $81,750 state P90 in a busy year.

Yes, particularly in the southwest. Lake Charles ($72,920) sits well above the state median because LNG export capacity has pulled pipe welders in from across the Gulf. That demand is cyclical and tied to project schedules, which is why the state's certified welders keep their qualifications current rather than tying themselves to one plant.