Welders in the Hickory area earn a median of $46,080 a year, 12% below the typical U.S. metro. That ranks #354 of 382 metros for welder salaries across the U.S..
Within driving distance, the same work pays more in Charlotte and Asheville, but less in Johnson City.
It's one of 13 North Carolina metros with published pay for this trade; see statewide welder pay.
Welder pay in Hickory at a glance
- Welders in the Hickory, NC metro earn a median $46,080 a year ($22.16 an hour), #354 of 382 U.S. metros (BLS, May 2025).
- The middle 80% earn between $37,790 and $62,130.
- After local prices, that median buys what $52,076 would in a typical U.S. place (BEA, 2024).
- A typical 1-bedroom rents for $965 a month, 25% of the median pay (HUD, FY2027).
Check your pay here
Enter a rate to see where it falls among welders in Hickory.
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What this means Our calculation
Pay for welders here is in the bottom 20% of U.S. metros, and below average once local prices are factored in. For the wider job market, unemployment is about the same as in most metros (3.8%) and the population is growing at a typical pace (+3.2% since 2020). On your own, you'd join about 46 one-person industrial machinery repair businesses averaging $67,957 in revenue, and you'd need to bill roughly $62/hour to match the median salary (at our default assumptions).
Hickory scorecard for welders Our calculation
Grades compare Hickory 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).
Pay over time
The median pay for welders in the Hickory area went from $36,650 in 2020 to $46,080 in 2025, up 25.7%. Prices rose 25% over the same period, so after inflation that's +0.3% — roughly keeping pace.
BLS OEWS, May 2020–May 2025; inflation: CPI-U (May to May). Year-to-year changes can include survey noise.
Compared with nearby metros
What the pay is really worth in Hickory Our calculation
Prices in the Hickory area run 12% below the U.S. average. Adjusted for that, a median paycheck here buys what $52,076 would in a typical place, ranking #300 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 Hickory budget on this pay 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 North Carolina Official source
The main state licensing office in North Carolina is the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors. Electrical and plumbing/HVAC have their own state boards. It can point you to the right license for welders.
Official North Carolina 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 NC metros for welders
| Metro | Median | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| GreenvilleNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $57,360 | $64,885 | 230 |
| RaleighNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $56,940 | $58,009 | 1,090 |
| CharlotteNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $56,070 | $57,597 | 3,370 |
| WilmingtonNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $55,340 | $57,394 | 260 |
| GreensboroNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $54,180 | $58,343 | 1,180 |
| AshevilleNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $52,540 | $54,442 | 290 |
| BurlingtonNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $50,740 | $54,444 | 120 |
| FayettevilleNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $49,780 | $54,122 | 80 |
| Rocky MountNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $49,600 | $56,356 | 250 |
| DurhamNORTH CAROLINA · NC | $49,280 | $50,506 | 290 |
See every metro in North Carolina.
How much work is there? Government data
Local job market
The Hickory area's unemployment rate was 3.8% in 2025 (all workers, not just welders), below the typical U.S. metro's 4.1%. It was 4.7% in 2021.
BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, annual averages 2021–2025 (2025 preliminary).
Getting to work
The average commute in the Hickory area is 25 minutes each way, longer than the typical metro (24 min). 12% of commuters spend 45 minutes or more. 82% drive alone, 0% take transit and 7% work from home (all workers, not just trades).
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table S0801).
Population
The Hickory area's population grew 3.2% from 2020 to 2025 (365,142 → 376,890), ranking #159 of 387 metros for growth (typical metro +2.5%). People moving in (net +19,572) account for more than all of the change.
Census Bureau population estimates, July 1 of each year, 2020–2025.
New construction
New-home permits in Hickory are up 67% from 2021 to 2025 (1,880 → 3,136).
In 2025 the Hickory area approved permits for 3,136 new homes (2,434 single-family), or 8.5 per 1,000 residents, ranking #46 of 393 metros.
Competition
In 2024 the area had 46 one-person businesses (no employees) in industrial machinery repair, averaging $67,957 a year in revenue before expenses. See how Hickory compares among the best cities to start a welder business.
They compete with 31 industrial machinery repair companies that have employees (about 163 workers in total). 71% of those companies have fewer than 5 employees.
Where to train near Hickory Government data
6 schools in or near Hickory offer precision metal working (welding, machining, sheet metal) programs below the bachelor's level. Many people in this trade learn through an apprenticeship instead; a program can shorten it or get you hired as a helper.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catawba Valley Community College Hickory, NC · Public | Certificate | $16,914 | 110 | — |
| Wilkes Community College Wilkesboro, NC · Public | Certificate | $10,787 | 86 | — |
| Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Hudson, NC · Public | Certificate | $11,351 | 27 | — |
| McDowell Technical Community College Marion, NC · Public | Certificate | $16,724 | 22 | — |
| Catawba Valley Community College Hickory, NC · Public | Associate degree | $16,914 | 16 | — |
| Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Hudson, NC · Public | Associate degree | $11,351 | 14 | — |
| Mitchell Community College Statesville, NC · Public | Certificate | $15,218 | 11 | — |
| Western Piedmont Community College Morganton, NC · Public | Certificate | $16,768 | 6 | — |
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.
Employee vs. working for yourself Your scenario
A model, not a market rate. It shows the break-even rate to match a $46,080 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 Hickory with another city →
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ToolCheck an offer in HickorySee where it falls among local welders, after the commute.Could you afford to live here?
ToolHickory budgetMonthly take-home, HUD rent and local prices on this pay.About this data
Local to the Hickory 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 Hickory against every other metro for welders. Every source, year and formula is on our data page.