Welders in the Lexington Park area earn a median of $60,840 a year, 16% above the typical U.S. metro. That ranks #48 of 382 metros for welders nationwide.
Within driving distance, the same work pays more in Baltimore and Virginia Beach, but less in Salisbury.
It's one of 4 Maryland metros with published pay for this trade; see welder pay in Maryland.
Welder pay in Lexington Park at a glance
- Welders in the Lexington Park, MD metro earn a median $60,840 a year ($29.25 an hour), #48 of 382 U.S. metros (BLS, May 2025).
- The middle 80% earn between $45,100 and $88,070.
- After local prices, that median buys what $60,381 would in a typical U.S. place (BEA, 2024).
- A typical 1-bedroom rents for $1,653 a month, 33% of the median pay (HUD, FY2027).
Check your pay here
Enter a rate to see where it falls among welders in Lexington Park.
Comparing two real offers with overtime and commutes? Use the job offer checker.
What this means Our calculation
Pay for welders here is in the top 20% of U.S. metros, and above average once local prices are factored in. For the wider job market, unemployment is lower than in most metros (3.5%) and the population is growing at a typical pace (+2.1% since 2020). On your own, you'd join about 21 one-person industrial machinery repair businesses averaging $108,857 in revenue, and you'd need to bill roughly $76/hour to match the median salary (at our default assumptions).
Lexington Park scorecard for welders Our calculation
Grades compare Lexington Park with every other U.S. metro for this trade (A = top 20%).
Pay Government data
Pay range
Shaded: the middle half of workers. Grey line: typical U.S. metro ($52,285).
Compared with nearby metros
What the pay is really worth in Lexington Park Our calculation
Prices in Lexington Park run 1% above the U.S. average. Adjusted for that, a median paycheck here buys what $60,381 would in a typical place, ranking #86 of 377 on real pay.
Real pay or rent burden?
Real pay already accounts for housing, because the price index includes rent. Rent burden shows what share of pay a typical 1-bedroom takes. Use either one, not both together.
Want the full picture? Build a cost-of-living budget for Lexington Park from this pay, local rent and prices.
What welders do
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.
Most important day-to-day tasks
- Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
- Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
- Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
- Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
- Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment.
Outlook & getting started
Nationally, welder jobs are projected to grow 2.4% from 2025 to 2035 (all jobs: 3.5%), with about 40,300 openings a year. About 4% are self-employed.
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.
Licensing in Maryland Official source
The main state licensing office in Maryland is the Maryland Department of Labor (Occupational Licensing). Home Improvement Commission and trade boards. It can point you to the right license for welders.
Official Maryland licensing site ↗
Requirements for welders vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
On-the-job safety Government data
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.
BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2023–2024 (national, cases with days away from work).
Highest-paying MD metros for welders
| Metro | Median | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| BaltimoreMARYLAND · MD | $61,920 | $59,261 | 1,290 |
| Lexington ParkMARYLAND · MD | $60,840 | $60,381 | 80 |
| SalisburyMARYLAND · MD | $58,480 | $61,161 | 60 |
| HagerstownMARYLAND · MD | $56,020 | $59,488 | 130 |
See every metro in Maryland.
How much work is there? Government data
Local job market
The Lexington Park area's unemployment rate was 3.5% in 2025 (all workers, not just welders), below the typical U.S. metro's 4.1%. It was 4.1% in 2021.
BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, annual averages 2021–2025 (2025 preliminary).
Getting to work
The average commute in the Lexington Park area is 35 minutes each way, longer than the typical metro (24 min). 31% of commuters spend 45 minutes or more. 73% drive alone, 0% take transit and 16% work from home (all workers, not just trades).
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table S0801).
Population
The Lexington Park area's population grew 2.1% from 2020 to 2025 (206,914 → 211,176), ranking #216 of 387 metros for growth (typical metro +2.5%). People moving in (net +2,089) account for part of the change.
Census Bureau population estimates, July 1 of each year, 2020–2025.
New construction
New-home permits in Lexington Park are up 20% from 2024 to 2025 (366 → 439).
In 2025 the Lexington Park area approved permits for 439 new homes (383 single-family), or 2.1 per 1,000 residents, ranking #290 of 393 metros.
Competition
In 2024 the area had 21 one-person businesses (no employees) in industrial machinery repair, averaging $108,857 a year in revenue before expenses. See how Lexington Park compares among the best cities to start a welder business.
They compete with 5 industrial machinery repair companies that have employees (about 16 workers in total). 80% of those companies have fewer than 5 employees.
Employee vs. working for yourself Your scenario
A model, not a market rate. It shows the break-even rate to match a $60,840 employee salary once you cover what an employer normally pays for (including the employer half of Social Security and Medicare, 7.65%), then adds your profit margin. Change any number.
Break-even rate
With your profit margin
How this calculator works. Weighing a contractor job against a W-2 one? Try the 1099 vs. W-2 comparison. Billable hours are hours you can charge a customer. Driving, quoting, paperwork and slow weeks aren't billable, which is why 1,400 is a common starting point versus 2,080 paid hours as an employee.
Get welder pricing & estimate templates →Compare Lexington Park with another city →
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ToolBest cities for weldersRank every metro on pay, buying power, rent and jobs.Is a job offer here any good?
ToolCheck an offer in Lexington ParkSee where it falls among local welders, after the commute.Could you afford to live here?
ToolLexington Park budgetMonthly take-home, HUD rent and local prices on this pay.About this data
Local to the Lexington Park metro: pay (BLS, May 2025) and pay over time (2020–2025, CPI-adjusted), prices (BEA, 2024), rent (HUD, FY2027), new construction, housing, population and commuting (Census), unemployment (BLS) and business counts (Census, by industry). National: job outlook and training (BLS projections), injury rates (BLS) and duties (O*NET). Jobs are employment estimates, not open positions; grades rank Lexington Park against every other metro for welders. Every source, year and formula is on our data page.