Do welders make more in Owensboro or Elizabethtown?

Elizabethtown pays more: the median is $51,700 in Owensboro and $59,900 in Elizabethtown, a 14% difference.

Welder salary in Owensboro, KY

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Owensboro, KY area earn a median of $51,700 a year, or $24.86 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $60,170. That's about the same as the Kentucky median of $51,470.

Median yearly pay$51,700

Bottom 10% under$40,160Top 10% over$60,170

Entry-level starting pay (estimate): $19.31/hr
Jobs in this area: 410
After cost of living: $58,350
Median hourly pay: $24.86/hr
vs U.S. median: −4%
vs Kentucky median: 0%
Mean (average) pay: $50,690 a year · $24.37 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 36980, Owensboro, KY). 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 Owensboro, KY 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	$19.31	$40,160
25th percentile	$21.63	$44,990
Median (50th)	$24.86	$51,700
75th percentile	$24.86	$51,700
90th percentile	$28.93	$60,170

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

How Owensboro, KY compares

Owensboro ranks 6th of 9 Kentucky metro areas for welder pay.
Welders are more concentrated in the Owensboro area than nationally: 8.3 of every 1,000 jobs, 3.1 times the U.S. share.

Other Kentucky metro areas

Other trades in Owensboro, KY

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

Questions

Do welders make more in Owensboro or Elizabethtown?: Elizabethtown pays more: the median is $51,700 in Owensboro and $59,900 in Elizabethtown, a 14% 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 36980 (Owensboro, KY). 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 (88.6, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures