Statewide pay Government data
Welders in Virginia earn a statewide median of $59,180 a year, 13% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #19 of 50 states and DC. About 10,100 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Virginia
See all states on the welder overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes welder pay for 9 Virginia metros: Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Richmond, Roanoke, Staunton, Virginia Beach and Winchester.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| StauntonVIRGINIA · VA | $64,470 | $70,747 | 390 |
| Virginia BeachVIRGINIA · VA | $62,670 | $63,988 | 3,740 |
| RichmondVIRGINIA · VA | $57,710 | $58,973 | 1,260 |
| BlacksburgVIRGINIA · VA | $57,650 | $62,183 | 250 |
| CharlottesvilleVIRGINIA · VA | $57,420 | $57,915 | 90 |
| RoanokeVIRGINIA · VA | $56,040 | $59,860 | 940 |
| WinchesterVIRGINIA · VA | $54,690 | $56,703 | 120 |
| LynchburgVIRGINIA · VA | $51,970 | $58,156 | 610 |
| HarrisonburgVIRGINIA · VA | $51,870 | $54,662 | 110 |
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 Virginia'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 Virginia who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 64% completed (U.S.: 58%), about 37 graduates a year. The typical program runs 8,000 hours, about 4 years of full-time work. Union programs had a 69% completion rate, compared with 62% for non-union programs.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Where to train in Virginia Government data
23 schools in Virginia offer precision metal working (welding, machining, sheet metal) programs below the bachelor's level, 20 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 $42,466 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Virginia Community College Lynchburg, VA · Public | Certificate | $12,664 | 223 | $44,861 |
| Tidewater Tech-Trades Norfolk, VA · Private for-profit | Certificate | $35,412 | 217 | $38,002 |
| Southside Virginia Community College Alberta, VA · Public | Certificate | $18,697 | 71 | $42,713 |
| Patrick & Henry Community College Martinsville, VA · Public | Certificate | $12,644 | 69 | $42,953 |
| New River Community College Dublin, VA · Public | Certificate | $13,920 | 67 | — |
| Tidewater Community College Norfolk, VA · Public | Certificate | $19,873 | 54 | $35,530 |
| Mountain Empire Community College Big Stone Gap, VA · Public | Certificate | $15,508 | 51 | — |
| Wytheville Community College Wytheville, VA · Public | Certificate | $12,234 | 46 | — |
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 Virginia Official source
The main state licensing office in Virginia is the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. It can point you to the right license for welders.
Official Virginia licensing site ↗
Requirements for welders vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 5.4% of wage and salary workers in Virginia were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#38 of 51 states and D.C.), and 6.4% 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 Virginia
All trades in Virginia.