Do welders make more in Dubuque or Des Moines?

Des Moines pays more: the median is $56,100 in Dubuque and $59,980 in Des Moines, a 6% difference.

Welder salary in Dubuque, IA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Dubuque, IA area earn a median of $56,100 a year, or $26.97 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $64,960. Statewide, welders earn a median of $55,090; Dubuque is 2% above it.

Median yearly pay$56,100

Bottom 10% under$47,220Top 10% over$64,960

Entry-level starting pay (estimate): $22.70/hr
Jobs in this area: 330
After cost of living: $64,240
Median hourly pay: $26.97/hr
vs U.S. median: +4%
vs Iowa median: +2%
Mean (average) pay: $55,190 a year · $26.54 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 20220, Dubuque, IA). 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 Dubuque, IA 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	$22.70	$47,220
25th percentile	$23.35	$48,560
Median (50th)	$26.97	$56,100
75th percentile	$28.66	$59,610
90th percentile	$31.23	$64,960

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

How Dubuque, IA compares

Dubuque ranks 6th of 9 Iowa metro areas for welder pay.
Welders are more concentrated in the Dubuque area than nationally: 5.7 of every 1,000 jobs, 2.1 times the U.S. share.

Other Iowa metro areas

Other trades in Dubuque, IA

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

Questions

Do welders make more in Dubuque or Des Moines?: Des Moines pays more: the median is $56,100 in Dubuque and $59,980 in Des Moines, a 6% 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 20220 (Dubuque, IA). 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 (87.3, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures