Welder salary in Rapid City, SD
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Welders in the Rapid City, SD area earn a median of $51,690 a year, or $24.85 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $71,000. That's 5% more than the South Dakota median of $49,440.
- Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
- $18.43/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 200
- After cost of living
- $57,970
- Median hourly pay
- $24.85/hr
- vs U.S. median
- −4%
- vs South Dakota median
- +5%
- Mean (average) pay
- $54,110 a year · $26.01 an hour
Pay by percentile
What welders in Rapid City, SD 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 | $18.43 | $38,340 |
| 25th percentile | $21.30 | $44,300 |
| Median (50th) | $24.85 | $51,690 |
| 75th percentile | $30.36 | $63,160 |
| 90th percentile | $34.13 | $71,000 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Rapid City, SD compares
- Rapid City has the lowest welder median of the 3 South Dakota metro areas with published pay.
- Welders hold about the same share of jobs in the Rapid City area as nationally: 2.8 of every 1,000 jobs.
Other South Dakota metro areas
Other trades in Rapid City, SD
Questions
- Do welders make more in Rapid City or Sioux City?
- Sioux City pays more: the median is $51,690 in Rapid City and $58,230 in Sioux City, 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 39660 (Rapid City, SD). 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 (89.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures