Do welders make more in Elkhart or Chicago?

Chicago pays more: the median is $50,950 in Elkhart and $52,650 in Chicago, a 3% difference.

Welder salary in Elkhart, IN

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Elkhart–Goshen, IN area earn a median of $50,950 a year, or $24.49 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $80,080 a year. That's 2% more than the Indiana median of $49,730.

Median yearly pay$50,950

Bottom 10% under$39,780Top 10% over$80,080

Entry-level starting pay (estimate): $19.13/hr
Jobs in this area: 2,000
After cost of living: $56,410
Median hourly pay: $24.49/hr
vs U.S. median: −5%
vs Indiana median: +2%
Mean (average) pay: $56,770 a year · $27.30 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 21140, Elkhart-Goshen, IN). 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 Elkhart, IN 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	$19.13	$39,780
25th percentile	$22.24	$46,260
Median (50th)	$24.49	$50,950
75th percentile	$30.93	$64,330
90th percentile	$38.50	$80,080

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

How Elkhart, IN compares

Elkhart ranks 7th of 15 Indiana metro areas for welder pay.
Welders are more concentrated in the Elkhart area than nationally: 15.7 of every 1,000 jobs, 5.9 times the U.S. share.

Other Indiana metro areas

Other trades in Elkhart, IN

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

Questions

Do welders make more in Elkhart or Chicago?: Chicago pays more: the median is $50,950 in Elkhart and $52,650 in Chicago, a 3% 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 21140 (Elkhart-Goshen, IN). 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 (90.3, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures