TradeSalary

Welder salary in Bay City, MI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Bay City, MI area earn a median of $57,760 a year, or $27.77 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $85,430. That's 16% more than the Michigan median of $49,990.

Median yearly pay$57,760
Bottom 10% under$39,840Top 10% over$85,430
Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
$19.16/hr
Jobs in this area
130
After cost of living
$62,840
Median hourly pay
$27.77/hr
vs U.S. median
+7%
vs Michigan median
+16%
Mean (average) pay
$64,860 a year · $31.19 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 13020, Bay City, MI). 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 Bay City, MI 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.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$19.16$39,840
25th percentile$22.55$46,910
Median (50th)$27.77$57,760
75th percentile$39.62$82,410
90th percentile$41.07$85,430

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

How Bay City, MI compares

  • Bay City has the highest welder median of the 16 Michigan metro areas with published pay.
  • Welders are more concentrated in the Bay City area than nationally: 3.9 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.5 times the U.S. share.

Other Michigan metro areas

Other trades in Bay City, MI

Questions

Do welders make more in Bay City or Detroit?
Bay City pays more: the median is $57,760 in Bay City and $51,810 in Detroit, a 11% 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 13020 (Bay City, MI). 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 (91.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures