Statewide pay Government data
Welders in Ohio earn a statewide median of $50,340 a year, 4% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #40 of 50 states and DC. About 20,330 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Ohio
See all states on the welder overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes welder pay for 12 Ohio metros: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Lima, Mansfield, Sandusky, Springfield, Toledo and Youngstown.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| LimaOHIO · OH | $85,790 | $95,674 | 470 |
| CincinnatiOHIO · OH | $51,990 | $54,514 | 3,160 |
| ColumbusOHIO · OH | $51,260 | $53,693 | 2,190 |
| CantonOHIO · OH | $50,510 | $56,495 | 860 |
| DaytonOHIO · OH | $50,390 | $54,362 | 820 |
| AkronOHIO · OH | $50,340 | $53,915 | 1,170 |
| ToledoOHIO · OH | $49,130 | $53,720 | 960 |
| ClevelandOHIO · OH | $49,040 | $52,213 | 3,510 |
| SanduskyOHIO · OH | $47,900 | $53,651 | 200 |
| SpringfieldOHIO · OH | $47,780 | $52,806 | 220 |
| YoungstownOHIO · OH | $47,690 | $54,569 | 680 |
| MansfieldOHIO · OH | $43,120 | $48,519 | 350 |
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 Ohio'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 Ohio who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 37% completed (U.S.: 58%), about 7 graduates a year. The typical program runs 8,000 hours, about 4 years of full-time work.
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 Ohio filed 619 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 336 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (79% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only welders. OSHA also opened 25 fatality investigations at metal fabrication plants in Ohio 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 Ohio Government data
60 schools in Ohio offer precision metal working (welding, machining, sheet metal) programs below the bachelor's level, 51 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 $43,425 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart Institute of Welding Technology Troy, OH · Private nonprofit | Certificate | $33,820 | 297 | $49,991 |
| Lorain County Community College Elyria, OH · Public | Certificate | $9,439 | 91 | — |
| Owens Community College Perrysburg, OH · Public | Certificate | $15,494 | 85 | — |
| Elite Welding Academy LLC Cincinnati, OH · Private for-profit | Certificate | $35,345 | 69 | $49,221 |
| Ohio Technical College Cleveland, OH · Private for-profit | Certificate | $38,957 | 64 | $41,248 |
| Ohio Technical College Cleveland, OH · Private for-profit | Associate degree | $38,957 | 42 | $44,302 |
| Pioneer Career and Technology Center Shelby, OH · Public | Certificate | — | 41 | — |
| Apollo Career Center Lima, OH · Public | Certificate | — | 32 | $51,946 |
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 Ohio Official source
The main state licensing office in Ohio is the Ohio Department of Commerce. Home of the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board. It can point you to the right license for welders.
Official Ohio licensing site ↗
Requirements for welders vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 11.6% of wage and salary workers in Ohio were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#18 of 51 states and D.C.), and 12.8% 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 Ohio
All trades in Ohio.