Do welders make more in Pocatello or Lewiston?

Pocatello pays more: the median is $58,140 in Pocatello and $55,890 in Lewiston, a 4% difference.

Welder salary in Pocatello, ID

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Pocatello, ID area earn a median of $58,140 a year, or $27.95 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $61,580. Across all of Idaho, the median is $50,530, so Pocatello pays 15% more than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$58,140

Bottom 10% under$40,770Top 10% over$61,580

Entry-level starting pay (estimate): $19.60/hr
Jobs in this area: 180
After cost of living: $65,390
Median hourly pay: $27.95/hr
vs U.S. median: +8%
vs Idaho median: +15%
Mean (average) pay: $55,500 a year · $26.69 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 38540, Pocatello, ID). 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 Pocatello, ID 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.

Percentile	Hourly	Yearly
10th percentile	$19.60	$40,770
25th percentile	$24.59	$51,150
Median (50th)	$27.95	$58,140
75th percentile	$28.30	$58,850
90th percentile	$29.61	$61,580

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

How Pocatello, ID compares

Pocatello has the highest welder median of the 7 Idaho metro areas with published pay.
Welders are more concentrated in the Pocatello area than nationally: 4.6 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.7 times the U.S. share.

Other Idaho metro areas

Other trades in Pocatello, ID

Electrician HVAC technician Plumber Diesel mechanic Carpenter Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer

Questions

Do welders make more in Pocatello or Lewiston?: Pocatello pays more: the median is $58,140 in Pocatello and $55,890 in Lewiston, a 4% 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 38540 (Pocatello, ID). 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 (88.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures