Statewide pay Government data
Welders in Arkansas earn a statewide median of $47,970 a year, 8% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #51 of 50 states and DC. About 6,150 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Arkansas
See all states on the welder overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes welder pay for 5 Arkansas metros. The highest-paying is Jonesboro at $51,900, followed by Fayetteville and Little Rock.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| JonesboroARKANSAS · AR | $51,900 | $60,436 | 340 |
| FayettevilleARKANSAS · AR | $47,740 | $52,259 | 570 |
| Little RockARKANSAS · AR | $47,440 | $53,086 | 1,190 |
| Fort SmithARKANSAS · AR | $46,630 | $54,292 | 400 |
| Hot SpringsARKANSAS · AR | $46,400 | $54,123 | 110 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Arkansas's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand-soldering, or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,300 openings a year. Typical training: moderate-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, welders have 43 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 50% below the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often welders deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
From 2015 to 2024, metal fabrication plants in Arkansas filed 121 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 49 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (77% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only welders. OSHA also opened 3 fatality investigations at metal fabrication plants in Arkansas over the same years (federal and state programs).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Where to train in Arkansas Government data
26 schools in Arkansas offer precision metal working (welding, machining, sheet metal) programs below the bachelor's level, 25 of them at public colleges. Many people in this trade learn through an apprenticeship instead; a program can shorten it or get you hired as a helper.
Where published, graduates earned a median of $36,190 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Fort Smith, AR · Public | Certificate | $20,164 | 167 | — |
| South Arkansas College El Dorado, AR · Public | Certificate | $13,552 | 147 | — |
| Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas De Queen, AR · Public | Certificate | $10,109 | 142 | $41,080 |
| National Park College Hot Springs, AR · Public | Certificate | $16,085 | 126 | — |
| Black River Technical College Pocahontas, AR · Public | Certificate | $13,878 | 125 | — |
| Arkansas State University Three Rivers Malvern, AR · Public | Certificate | $16,130 | 98 | — |
| Arkansas Tech University Russellville, AR · Public | Certificate | $22,295 | 77 | — |
| Arkansas State University-Newport Newport, AR · Public | Certificate | $17,253 | 74 | — |
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (data updated October 2026). Cost is the school's average yearly cost of attendance before financial aid; earnings are the median for graduates one year after finishing, shown only where the school has enough graduates to publish. “—” means not published.
Licensing in Arkansas Official source
The main state licensing office in Arkansas is the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Home of the Contractors Licensing Board; some trades are licensed by other state agencies. It can point you to the right license for welders.
Official Arkansas licensing site ↗
Requirements for welders vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 2.8% of wage and salary workers in Arkansas were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#48 of 51 states and D.C.), and 3.5% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only welders.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Arkansas
All trades in Arkansas.