Statewide pay Government data
Welders in Michigan earn a statewide median of $49,990 a year, 4% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #41 of 50 states and DC. About 13,330 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Michigan
See all states on the welder overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes welder pay for 15 Michigan metros. The highest-paying is Bay City at $57,760, followed by Ann Arbor and Battle Creek.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bay CityMICHIGAN · MI | $57,760 | $62,837 | 130 |
| Ann ArborMICHIGAN · MI | $54,180 | $53,707 | 220 |
| Battle CreekMICHIGAN · MI | $52,970 | $58,504 | 210 |
| DetroitMICHIGAN · MI | $51,810 | $51,656 | 4,580 |
| LansingMICHIGAN · MI | $50,370 | $53,026 | 370 |
| JacksonMICHIGAN · MI | $49,790 | $54,250 | 130 |
| MonroeMICHIGAN · MI | $49,570 | $53,021 | 240 |
| Traverse CityMICHIGAN · MI | $49,420 | $52,928 | 130 |
| NilesMICHIGAN · MI | $49,040 | $53,091 | 230 |
| Grand RapidsMICHIGAN · MI | $48,920 | $51,200 | 2,520 |
| SaginawMICHIGAN · MI | $48,820 | $53,713 | 220 |
| FlintMICHIGAN · MI | $48,810 | $52,465 | 200 |
| MidlandMICHIGAN · MI | $48,120 | $52,349 | 60 |
| MuskegonMICHIGAN · MI | $47,850 | $51,719 | 390 |
| KalamazooMICHIGAN · MI | $47,560 | $50,148 | 250 |
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 Michigan'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 Michigan who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 62% completed (U.S.: 58%), about 16 graduates a year. The typical program runs 8,000 hours, about 4 years of full-time work. Union programs had a 87% completion rate, compared with 36% for non-union programs. 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
Michigan runs its own workplace-safety program (an OSHA State Plan), so its injury reports aren't in the federal dataset. Nationally, in states federal OSHA covers, metal fabrication plants filed 4,763 severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024; the most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (77%). OSHA also opened 18 fatality investigations at metal fabrication plants in Michigan 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 Michigan Government data
33 schools in Michigan offer precision metal working (welding, machining, sheet metal) programs below the bachelor's level, 31 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 $46,691 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta College University Center, MI · Public | Certificate | $18,250 | 94 | $46,691 |
| Universal Technical Institute-Canton Canton, MI · Private for-profit | Certificate | $28,897 | 83 | $45,168 |
| Washtenaw Community College Ann Arbor, MI · Public | Certificate | $13,528 | 79 | — |
| Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI · Public | Associate degree | $28,646 | 61 | — |
| Grand Rapids Community College Grand Rapids, MI · Public | Certificate | $11,744 | 58 | $45,799 |
| Macomb Community College Warren, MI · Public | Certificate | $13,418 | 44 | — |
| Kalamazoo Valley Community College Kalamazoo, MI · Public | Certificate | $12,174 | 37 | — |
| Oakland Community College Auburn Hills, MI · Public | Certificate | $10,996 | 35 | — |
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 Michigan Official source
The main state licensing office in Michigan is the LARA Bureau of Construction Codes. It can point you to the right license for welders.
Official Michigan licensing site ↗
Requirements for welders vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 13.0% of wage and salary workers in Michigan were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#14 of 51 states and D.C.), and 14.2% 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 Michigan
All trades in Michigan.