Statewide pay Government data
Welders in West Virginia earn a statewide median of $48,810 a year, 7% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #47 of 50 states and DC. About 2,100 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near West Virginia
See all states on the welder overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes welder pay for 7 West Virginia metros. The highest-paying is Weirton at $55,410, followed by Wheeling and Parkersburg.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| WeirtonWEST VIRGINIA · WV | $55,410 | $62,242 | 180 |
| WheelingWEST VIRGINIA · WV | $49,920 | $56,520 | 160 |
| ParkersburgWEST VIRGINIA · WV | $49,330 | $56,658 | 90 |
| BeckleyWEST VIRGINIA · WV | $48,960 | $55,404 | 120 |
| CharlestonWEST VIRGINIA · WV | $48,000 | $54,105 | 190 |
| MorgantownWEST VIRGINIA · WV | $47,650 | $51,059 | 140 |
| HuntingtonWEST VIRGINIA · WV | $46,980 | $53,132 | 550 |
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 West 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.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
From 2015 to 2024, metal fabrication plants in West Virginia filed 36 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 12 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (72% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only welders. OSHA also opened 3 fatality investigations at metal fabrication plants in West Virginia 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 West Virginia Government data
13 schools in West Virginia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Franklin Career Center Dunbar, WV · Public | Certificate | $12,519 | 17 | — |
| West Virginia University at Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV · Public | Certificate | $9,685 | 13 | — |
| Fred W Eberle Technical Center Buckhannon, WV · Public | Certificate | $5,397 | 12 | — |
| Mercer County Technical Education Center Princeton, WV · Public | Certificate | $13,611 | 12 | — |
| Mountwest Community and Technical College Huntington, WV · Public | Associate degree | $15,240 | 10 | — |
| New River Community and Technical College Beaver, WV · Public | Certificate | $11,796 | 8 | — |
| West Virginia University at Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV · Public | Associate degree | $9,685 | 8 | — |
| BridgeValley Community & Technical College South Charleston, WV · Public | Associate degree | $12,811 | 7 | — |
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 West Virginia Official source
The main state licensing office in West Virginia is the West Virginia Division of Labor. It can point you to the right license for welders.
Official West Virginia licensing site ↗
Requirements for welders vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 8.5% of wage and salary workers in West Virginia were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#26 of 51 states and D.C.), and 9.1% 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 West Virginia
All trades in West Virginia.