Welders in the Mayaguez area earn a median of $30,230 a year, 42% below the typical U.S. metro. That ranks #380 of 382 metros for welder salaries across the U.S..
Within driving distance, the same work pays more in Ponce and San Juan, but less in Aguadilla.
It's one of 5 Puerto Rico metros with published pay for this trade; see statewide welder pay.
Welder pay in Mayaguez at a glance
- Welders in the Mayaguez, PR metro earn a median $30,230 a year ($14.54 an hour), #380 of 382 U.S. metros (BLS, May 2025).
- The middle 80% earn between $27,040 and $37,750.
- A typical 1-bedroom rents for $496 a month, 20% of the median pay (HUD, FY2027).
- About 70 welders work in the metro.
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What this means Our calculation
Pay for welders here is in the bottom 20% of U.S. metros.
Mayaguez scorecard for welders Our calculation
Grades compare Mayaguez with every other U.S. metro for this trade (A = top 20%).
Pay Government data
Pay range
Shaded: the middle half of workers.
Pay over time
The median pay for welders in the Mayaguez area went from $23,340 in 2020 to $30,230 in 2025, up 29.5%. Prices rose 25% over the same period, so after inflation that's +3.3% — a real raise. Some years are missing because BLS redrew or didn't publish this metro.
BLS OEWS, May 2020–May 2025; inflation: CPI-U (May to May). Year-to-year changes can include survey noise.
Compared with nearby metros
Rent in Mayaguez
Typical rent is $496 a month for a 1-bedroom and $590 for a 2-bedroom.
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 Puerto Rico Official source
Check with local authorities in Puerto Rico. Check with the building or licensing office where you plan to work.
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 PR metros for welders
| Metro | Median | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| PoncePUERTO RICO · PR | $31,680 | — | 100 |
| San JuanPUERTO RICO · PR | $30,390 | — | 1,240 |
| MayaguezPUERTO RICO · PR | $30,230 | — | 70 |
| AreciboPUERTO RICO · PR | $29,380 | — | 150 |
| AguadillaPUERTO RICO · PR | $28,450 | — | 90 |
See every metro in Puerto Rico.
How much work is there? Government data
Getting to work
The average commute in the Mayaguez area is 25 minutes each way, about the same as the typical metro (24 min). 9% of commuters spend 45 minutes or more.
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table S0801).
New construction
In 2025 the Mayaguez area approved permits for 343 new homes (329 single-family), or 1.6 per 1,000 residents, ranking #325 of 393 metros.
Employee vs. working for yourself Your scenario
A model, not a market rate. It shows the break-even rate to match a $30,230 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 Mayaguez 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 MayaguezSee where it falls among local welders, after the commute.Could you afford to live here?
ToolMayaguez budgetMonthly take-home, HUD rent and local prices on this pay.About this data
Local to the Mayaguez 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 Mayaguez against every other metro for welders. Every source, year and formula is on our data page.
Report a data issue on this page
BEA doesn't publish price levels for Mayaguez, so real pay isn't shown. The Census doesn't publish one-person business or competition figures for welders as a separate industry, so that section is left out.