TradeSalary

Welder salary in Sacramento, CA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Sacramento–Roseville–Folsom, CA area earn a median of $57,290 a year, or $27.55 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $79,950. Across all of California, the median is $58,060, so Sacramento pays 1% less than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$57,290
Bottom 10% under$47,220Top 10% over$79,950
Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
$22.70/hr
Jobs in this area
1,530
After cost of living
$53,710
Median hourly pay
$27.55/hr
vs U.S. median
+7%
vs California median
−1%
Mean (average) pay
$60,940 a year · $29.30 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 40900, Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA). 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 Sacramento, CA 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$22.70$47,220
25th percentile$23.66$49,210
Median (50th)$27.55$57,290
75th percentile$30.76$63,980
90th percentile$38.44$79,950

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

How Sacramento, CA compares

  • Sacramento ranks 9th of 25 California metro areas for welder pay.
  • Welders are less concentrated in the Sacramento area than nationally: 1.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.53 times the U.S. share.

Other California metro areas

Other trades in Sacramento, CA

Questions

Do welders make more in Sacramento or San Francisco?
San Francisco pays more: the median is $57,290 in Sacramento and $64,320 in San Francisco, a 11% difference.

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 40900 (Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA). 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 (106.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures