Welder salary in Durham, NC
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Welders in the Durham–Chapel Hill, NC area earn a median of $49,280 a year, or $23.69 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $69,020. Across all of North Carolina, the median is $50,590, so Durham pays 3% less than the state as a whole.
- Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
- $20.03/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 290
- After cost of living
- $50,510
- Median hourly pay
- $23.69/hr
- vs U.S. median
- −8%
- vs North Carolina median
- −3%
- Mean (average) pay
- $53,180 a year · $25.57 an hour
Pay by percentile
What welders in Durham, NC 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 | $20.03 | $41,670 |
| 25th percentile | $22.09 | $45,950 |
| Median (50th) | $23.69 | $49,280 |
| 75th percentile | $29.15 | $60,640 |
| 90th percentile | $33.18 | $69,020 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Durham, NC compares
- Durham ranks 11th of 14 North Carolina metro areas for welder pay.
- Welders are less concentrated in the Durham area than nationally: 0.8 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.31 times the U.S. share.
Other North Carolina metro areas
Other trades in Durham, NC
Questions
- Do welders make more in Durham or Virginia Beach?
- Virginia Beach pays more: the median is $49,280 in Durham and $62,670 in Virginia Beach, a 21% 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 20500 (Durham-Chapel Hill, NC). 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 (97.6, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures