Statewide pay Government data
Welders in Nebraska earn a statewide median of $52,220 a year, 0% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #31 of 50 states and DC. About 4,200 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Nebraska
See all states on the welder overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes welder pay for 3 Nebraska metros: Lincoln, Omaha and Grand Island.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| LincolnNEBRASKA · NE | $53,990 | $58,953 | 820 |
| OmahaNEBRASKA · NE | $53,110 | $57,784 | 1,060 |
| Grand IslandNEBRASKA · NE | $48,940 | $56,476 | 170 |
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 Nebraska'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 Nebraska filed 83 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 (77% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only welders. OSHA also opened 3 fatality investigations at metal fabrication plants in Nebraska 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 Nebraska Government data
6 schools in Nebraska 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.
Where published, graduates earned a median of $53,959 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Community College Grand Island, NE · Public | Certificate | $13,851 | 223 | — |
| Southeast Community College Area Lincoln, NE · Public | Certificate | $11,682 | 149 | — |
| Metropolitan Community College Area Omaha, NE · Public | Certificate | $11,632 | 89 | — |
| Northeast Community College Norfolk, NE · Public | Certificate | $12,947 | 80 | $46,005 |
| Central Community College Grand Island, NE · Public | Associate degree | $13,851 | 50 | — |
| Southeast Community College Area Lincoln, NE · Public | Associate degree | $11,682 | 39 | $54,590 |
| Metropolitan Community College Area Omaha, NE · Public | Associate degree | $11,632 | 36 | $53,959 |
| Western Nebraska Community College Scottsbluff, NE · Public | Certificate | $13,229 | 17 | — |
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 Nebraska Official source
The main state licensing office in Nebraska is the Nebraska Department of Labor. Contractors register with the state; electricians are licensed by the state Electrical Division. It can point you to the right license for welders.
Official Nebraska licensing site ↗
Requirements for welders vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 6.6% of wage and salary workers in Nebraska were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#29 of 51 states and D.C.), and 8.5% 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 Nebraska
All trades in Nebraska.