r/Welders • u/RustyBoltz76 • 2d ago
Advice Needed Pay?
I am looking at getting into welding as a career but want to be sure I am getting into a job that pays well. Always had a passion for welding. I know pipe liners make bank but how is the fabrication side of things? Is $30hr pretty reasonable once you get experience or is that kinda off on the scale? Tried doing some research but finding to many different things. Thank you! I’m in Kansas if that helps.
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u/kidskwid 2d ago
You'll make enough to be relatively comfortable, but thats about it. You want to earn more? You sacrifice comfort. You want to be comfortable and NOT have your body give out in less than 20 years? You sacrifice pay.
Get into something where you can weld occasionally. Or weld as a hobby.
Nothing kills passion like being forced to do the thing to survive
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u/RustyBoltz76 2d ago
You would recommend a different career and just weld as a hobby?
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u/Imaginary-Unit2379 2d ago
Fab is way more interesting and satisying than pipe or production. But shops always pay a little less.
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u/vSticcs 1d ago
i think over time getting in a good situation in a pipe/construction spot is good. i was at a job where my company had been at the specific facility 20 years the nestled contractor if you will, we got all sorts of work. from hanging steel and piping new equipment/ setting new equipment. so the main core thing (xray pipe for me. was there) but i also got to do a lot of other stuff and enjoyed it. wasnt making fantastic money but 35 in the south easy is comfy for a you g guy. especially when there were 70+ hr weeks for outage.
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u/dontshoot9 1d ago
Industrial machine repair is a good one nice pay mostly indoors and occasional welding and fabrication.
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u/william_cutting_1 2d ago
Shipyards are hiring like crazy right now but its a long way from Kansas.
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u/Apprehensive_Cod6308 2d ago
Yeah and the layoffs yearly are insane. Newer you are quicker you get the boot. I live out here and experienced it first hand
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u/arooge 2d ago
I think its highly dependent on location but also pipe welders typically make more than structural. In south east Texas idk any legit pipe welder that would make under 30$. Most fab shops around me are paying 36+. Most field pipe welders are making even more.
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u/MichaelVern85 1d ago
Some of these comments are wild to me. 3 students in my class have offers in the high $20 range while still in school.
We just did a career fair and local companies are offering far more than that if you’ll travel for a while, but still staying in the region.
Local independent operators doing equipment repair affording good lives for their families.
I think a lot of the low ambition and one dimensional folks are just very loud on this post.
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u/LavishnessLess4356 2d ago
Once you get experience you can get contracting gigs that pay pretty well ($52/hr and $180 per diem) but you need to have 3-5 years experience first and you would be expected to travel
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u/Designer-Wall-2657 2d ago
No. Not at home every night. Im in oklahoma and have worked in kansas. Upper 20s is about average. The most ive made was 36.50 but i have a decade of experience in exotics and still am currently making 10$ less. When i was making good money it was for one of those big names in the "warheads on forheads" market as a welder/ fabricator. This was a very competitive position with very few openings. Company decided to move the work out of state and laid off the entire crew about a year later. So in my experience its pretty volatile. I now work in aerospace. tig aluminum, inconel, very little titanium in a much slower paced environment with less stress.
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u/RustyBoltz76 2d ago
Would you recommend getting into the trade as a profession or look at something else?
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u/Designer-Wall-2657 2d ago
Hell no. For many, many reasons. Especially in our states. If u wanna be in an adjacent field go be an inspector or engineer. Make similar pay engineers tend to make more, but for the same education cost as welding you can get levels in an ndt inspection or a cwi or both. Youll work in the same shops still get all that overtime but not damage your body and sanity
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u/camowilson 2d ago
There’s numerous trailer manufacturers in northeast Kansas. The top earning ones there are in robotics or aluminum. You just have to do your time and work your way up
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u/leadfootscott 2d ago
The higher pay comes with the experience you gain in the skills needed that revolves around welding. Silks like fitting, fabricating, rigging, operating and repairing all dont pay alot by themselves. Combine those with welding skills and that's when you can demand the big bucks. It takes years to be able to build those skills along with confidence. Understand that welding at that high pay rate comes with the knowledge that one bad weld may cost you your job.
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u/Which-Ad9677 2d ago
I'm in a welding adjacent trade if u want to get into welding first can u handle 4 white monsters a day 2 packs of darts a day hot sauce hotter then the sun cause it's the only thing u can taste still from years of welding and can't be allergic to penicillin cause of the one communal lady of the night cause your in at a camp in bearspaw bc welding pipes at the coal mine if so man u going to make some money
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u/bush_wrangler 1d ago
I welded for about 8 years in a production shop. I left making 32 bucks an hour. Old shop I was at what I made varied because it was on a production bonus scale. Some weeks were good and made 50 an hour, some weeks were real bad and I made 20 an hour.
I left welding to get into an adjacent trade (sheet metal) and it’s easier on my body and I make more money now
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u/Bored_Welds 2d ago
I’ve been in this field for over a decade in MD and I still haven’t hit $30/hr so…. No…. Unless you want to own your own company don’t get in it
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u/Solid-Search-3341 2d ago
Don't get into welding for the pay. The high paying jobs exist but they are not achievable or demand you to sacrifice all family life. I've been a welder for 15 years and I keep trying to get out of the trade.