Do welders make more in Kankakee or Peoria?

Peoria pays more: the median is $47,460 in Kankakee and $58,960 in Peoria, a 20% difference.

Welder salary in Kankakee, IL

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Kankakee, IL area earn a median of $47,460 a year, or $22.82 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $71,110 a year. Statewide, welders earn a median of $51,320; Kankakee is 8% below it.

Median yearly pay$47,460

Bottom 10% under$36,230Top 10% over$71,110

Entry-level starting pay (estimate): $17.42/hr
Jobs in this area: 230
After cost of living: $49,240
Median hourly pay: $22.82/hr
vs U.S. median: −12%
vs Illinois median: −8%
Mean (average) pay: $50,870 a year · $24.46 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 28100, Kankakee, IL). 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 Kankakee, IL 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	$17.42	$36,230
25th percentile	$19.47	$40,490
Median (50th)	$22.82	$47,460
75th percentile	$28.17	$58,590
90th percentile	$34.19	$71,110

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

How Kankakee, IL compares

Kankakee ranks 11th of 12 Illinois metro areas for welder pay.
Welders are more concentrated in the Kankakee area than nationally: 5.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 2.0 times the U.S. share.

Other Illinois metro areas

Other trades in Kankakee, IL

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

Questions

Do welders make more in Kankakee or Peoria?: Peoria pays more: the median is $47,460 in Kankakee and $58,960 in Peoria, a 20% 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 28100 (Kankakee, IL). 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 (96.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures