TradeSalary

Welder salary in Alaska

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in Alaska earn a median of $80,840 a year, or $38.87 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $109,940 a year. Nationally the median is $53,750, so Alaska pays 50% more than the U.S. overall and ranks 1st of 51.

Median yearly pay$80,840
Bottom 10% under$49,660Top 10% over$109,940
Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
$23.88/hr
Jobs in Alaska
790
After cost of living
$78,980
Median hourly pay
$38.87/hr
vs U.S. median
+50%
Rank among states
1st of 51
Mean (average) pay
$80,100 a year · $38.51 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 02). Excludes self-employed welders. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What welders in Alaska earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$23.88$49,660
25th percentile$29.46$61,280
Median (50th)$38.87$80,840
75th percentile$47.36$98,500
90th percentile$52.85$109,940

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

Pay over time

The median welder wage in Alaska rose 6.5%, from $75,940 in May 2021 to $80,840 in May 2025. Prices rose 19.4% over the same period, so after inflation it fell 10.9%.

YearMedian a yearMedian an hour
May 2021$75,940$36.51/hr
May 2022$70,560$33.92/hr
May 2023$77,100$37.07/hr
May 2024$75,140$36.13/hr
May 2025$80,840$38.87/hr

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, each May release; inflation from the BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, May of each year). BLS cautions against reading much into year-to-year changes, so we compare the first and last years. How we compare years

How Alaska compares

  • Welders are less concentrated in Alaska than nationally: 2.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.90 times the U.S. share.

Pay by metro area

Rural Alaska

  • All rural areas$81,000

Other trades in Alaska

Bidding federal work? Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates in Alaska list what contractors must pay welders on federal and federally assisted jobs, county by county.

Questions

Where in Alaska do welders earn the most?
Among Alaska metro areas, Fairbanks–College has the highest median at $80,210 a year, and Anchorage the lowest at $74,000.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 51-4121 (Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers), area code 02. BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed welders and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (102.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures