Welder salary in Kentucky
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Welders in Kentucky earn a median of $51,470 a year, or $24.74 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $69,010. That's 4% less than the national median of $53,750, 33rd of 51 states and DC.
- Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
- $18.89/hr
- Jobs in Kentucky
- 6,630
- After cost of living
- $57,090
- Median hourly pay
- $24.74/hr
- vs U.S. median
- −4%
- Rank among states
- 33rd of 51
- Mean (average) pay
- $53,710 a year · $25.82 an hour
Pay by percentile
What welders in Kentucky 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 | $18.89 | $39,300 |
| 25th percentile | $22.30 | $46,380 |
| Median (50th) | $24.74 | $51,470 |
| 75th percentile | $28.80 | $59,900 |
| 90th percentile | $33.18 | $69,010 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
Pay over time
The median welder wage in Kentucky rose 18.5%, from $43,440 in May 2021 to $51,470 in May 2025. Prices rose 19.4% over the same period, so after inflation it fell 0.8%.
| Year | Median a year | Median an hour |
|---|---|---|
| May 2021 | $43,440 | $20.88/hr |
| May 2022 | $45,200 | $21.73/hr |
| May 2023 | $46,240 | $22.23/hr |
| May 2024 | $49,260 | $23.68/hr |
| May 2025 | $51,470 | $24.74/hr |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, each May release; inflation from the BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, May of each year). BLS cautions against reading much into year-to-year changes, so we compare the first and last years. How we compare years
How Kentucky compares
- Welders are more concentrated in Kentucky than nationally: 3.3 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.2 times the U.S. share.
Pay by metro area
Rural Kentucky
- East Kentucky$57,660
- West Kentucky$50,930
- South Central Kentucky$47,010
- Central Kentucky$46,920
Other trades in Kentucky
Bidding federal work? Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates in Kentucky list what contractors must pay welders on federal and federally assisted jobs, county by county.
Questions
- Where in Kentucky do welders earn the most?
- Among Kentucky metro areas, Elizabethtown has the highest median at $59,900 a year, and Huntington–Ashland the lowest at $46,980.
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 21. 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 (90.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures