Welder salary in Portland, OR-WA
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Welders in the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR-WA area earn a median of $62,050 a year, or $29.83 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $83,940. Across all of Oregon, the median is $59,450, so Portland pays 4% more than the state as a whole.
- Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
- $23.10/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 3,300
- After cost of living
- $58,860
- Median hourly pay
- $29.83/hr
- vs U.S. median
- +15%
- vs Oregon median
- +4%
- Mean (average) pay
- $64,170 a year · $30.85 an hour
Pay by percentile
What welders in Portland, OR-WA 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 | $23.10 | $48,050 |
| 25th percentile | $25.54 | $53,130 |
| Median (50th) | $29.83 | $62,050 |
| 75th percentile | $34.81 | $72,400 |
| 90th percentile | $40.36 | $83,940 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Portland, OR-WA compares
- Portland ranks 2nd of 8 Oregon metro areas for welder pay.
- Welders hold about the same share of jobs in the Portland area as nationally: 2.7 of every 1,000 jobs.
Other Oregon metro areas
Other trades in Portland, OR-WA
Questions
- Do welders make more in Portland or Albany?
- Albany pays more: the median is $62,050 in Portland and $62,790 in Albany, a 1% 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 38900 (Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA). 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 (105.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures