Statewide pay Government data
Welders in Kansas earn a statewide median of $49,410 a year, 5% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #46 of 50 states and DC. About 6,370 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Kansas
See all states on the welder overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes welder pay for 4 Kansas metros: Lawrence, Manhattan, Topeka and Wichita.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| WichitaKANSAS · KS | $54,190 | $60,925 | 1,460 |
| TopekaKANSAS · KS | $51,390 | $57,859 | 330 |
| ManhattanKANSAS · KS | $50,550 | $56,066 | 180 |
| LawrenceKANSAS · KS | $48,180 | $53,389 | 70 |
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 Kansas'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.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of welder apprentices in Kansas who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 31% completed (U.S.: 58%), about 3 graduates a year. The typical program runs 2,000 hours, about 1 years of full-time work. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
From 2015 to 2024, metal fabrication plants in Kansas filed 88 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 40 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (70% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only welders. OSHA also opened 4 fatality investigations at metal fabrication plants in Kansas 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 Kansas Government data
27 schools in Kansas offer precision metal working (welding, machining, sheet metal) programs below the bachelor's level, 26 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 $46,143 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita State University-Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology Wichita, KS · Public | Certificate | $18,414 | 307 | $49,220 |
| Washburn Institute of Technology Topeka, KS · Public | Certificate | $18,739 | 138 | $47,316 |
| Cowley County Community College Arkansas City, KS · Public | Certificate | $14,904 | 109 | $39,474 |
| Neosho County Community College Chanute, KS · Public | Certificate | $17,284 | 108 | — |
| Fort Hays State University-Northwest Kansas Technical College Goodland, KS · Public | Certificate | $19,780 | 72 | — |
| Hutchinson Community College Hutchinson, KS · Public | Certificate | $12,197 | 67 | — |
| Salina Area Technical College Salina, KS · Public | Certificate | $15,476 | 54 | $44,631 |
| Barton County Community College Great Bend, KS · Public | Certificate | $17,326 | 53 | $27,871 |
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 Kansas Official source
Kansas licenses most trades at the city or county level. Check with the building or licensing office where you plan to work.
Requirements for welders vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 6.2% of wage and salary workers in Kansas were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#32 of 51 states and D.C.), and 9.0% 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 Kansas
All trades in Kansas.