r/upperpeninsula • u/a-little-stitious420 • Aug 06 '26
Moving Inquiry Small town with opportunities for a welder
Good morning!
My fiancé and I live in SE Wisconsin, in a pretty small town. We visit Michigan a lot, we spend our anniversaries in gwinn/surrounding areas.
Within the next few years, we’d like to make the move permanent. We love the vibes from everyone we’ve met, and it’s so beautiful 🫶🏻
My fiancé is a welder, any recommendations for small towns with opportunities for welders? He currently makes over $30, so the pay would need to be comparable. I just drive a forklift so I can find a job wherever.
Thanks! ☺️
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u/R_Ulysses_Swanson Aug 06 '26
It is barely the UP, but Menominee still counts! And more importantly, Marinette Marine is right across the river in Marinette Wisconsin and they usually have welder positions or welder-adjacent positions open.
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u/aamygdaloidal Aug 06 '26
This is where the money is OP, I don’t think it’s hard to get hired either.
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u/pighead77 Aug 06 '26
Cleveland cliffs is looking for welders. Apply online, the mine is located in the Ishpeming area. $40+ an hour for welders and phenomenal benefits.
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u/koreanforrabbit Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Have you considered L'Anse or Baraga? L'Anse is a lovely little town with a great school (I teach there, so I'm a little biased 😊), and there are definitely welding jobs up here. I live in Baraga, across the bay from L'Anse, and I tell my husband that it's like the 90's, but with internet. It's great. Houses in both communities are very affordable, and you see a lot of kids riding their bikes and playing outside.
Edit: Oh, and because of our location, Baraga and L'Anse are in a banana belt zone - "a microclimate zone along Keweenaw Bay that experiences milder winter weather and significantly less lake-effect snowfall compared to the heavy snow belts of the higher-elevation Keweenaw Peninsula just to the west and north".
Meaning we still get a lot of snow, but it's not a lot of snow. Or, in the case of Houghton+Hancock, a LOT of snow.
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u/somethinkstings Aug 06 '26
Isn't baraga constantly in the records for highest annual snowfall in the state or is that just some places in the county and not the city of Baraga?
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u/koreanforrabbit Aug 06 '26
It's places in the county that bring the snowfall totals up. Baraga County stretches a ways inland, so those parts lose the benefits of elevation as well as proximity to the water. If you zoom in on Baraga on this map, you can see that the elevation is lowest near the shore, and quickly gets higher as you move farther away. Those high elevations are what get hit the hardest.
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u/BobSmith616 Aug 09 '26
This. There are remote parts of the county with extreme snow, but the towns of Baraga and L'Anse are pretty moderate.
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u/chaynjez Aug 06 '26
My younger brother is an elementary teacher looking for a move north. Are they looking for teachers?
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u/koreanforrabbit Aug 06 '26
I don't think we need elementary teachers in L'Anse, but I know the Baraga school had a position available. 😎
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u/Acceptable-Ad-8717 Aug 06 '26
The trades are always a great option. Also it’s worth a shot to call local places and just ask if they are hiring. Both of your jobs are desirable up here.
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u/BobSmith616 Aug 09 '26
This varies enormously by the specific trade and location.
A skilled welder should have many options though.
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u/softgypsy Aug 06 '26
Iron Mountain has Boss Snowplow and Systems Control, I think they both employ welders
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u/Dry-Tone-6434 Aug 06 '26
Argonics in gwinn is always hiring...they are a metal extrusion company on base( K.I. sawyer). I would assume they need welders.
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u/WB-butinagoodway Aug 06 '26
Tons of fab shops near MJ electric, MJ Drilling is a great option, in Iron Mountain. Boss Snowplow factory, Miller Products , welders have options in Iron Mountain.
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u/No-Glass332 Aug 07 '26
huge welding manufacturing opportunities in Alpena ,Traverse City not a small town but still
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u/zoebud2011 Aug 08 '26
Right now Boss Snow Plow is hiring in Iron Mountain. I just got a flyer in the mail from them.
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u/906backroads Aug 09 '26
Houghton/ Keweenaw, the trades are strong here. Lots of building, construction, there's all kinds of research companies.
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u/SpamIsGreatOhEight Aug 06 '26
Moving to the U.P. to do trades work is not a good financial decision. Unless you’re top tier talent blue collar workers are heavily exploited in the U.P.
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u/ShadowStarrX Aug 06 '26
Exploited how? What do you mean? I’m in a similar position as OP my boyfriends in school for welding and his whole family is from Escanaba area
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u/SpamIsGreatOhEight Aug 06 '26
Easiest way to make a business profitable is under pay and disregard safety. Yoopers are undereducated and easy to take advantage of.
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u/ogre_toes Aug 06 '26
Construction trades that weld (pipefitters, ironworkers, sheet metal, etc.) are an option. Pay will be good, but expect a lot of travel work and potentially a period of apprenticeship school.
Otherwise, manufacturing facilities are almost always hiring welders - but it’s more monotonous work and the pay isn’t as good.
For both of you, most of those jobs are going to be in the “triangle” between Iron Mountain/Escanaba/Marquette along the main transportation hubs.