Do welders make more in Charlottesville or Virginia Beach?

Virginia Beach pays more: the median is $57,420 in Charlottesville and $62,670 in Virginia Beach, a 8% difference.

Welder salary in Charlottesville, VA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Charlottesville, VA area earn a median of $57,420 a year, or $27.61 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $78,720. Statewide, welders earn a median of $59,180; Charlottesville is 3% below it.

Median yearly pay$57,420

Bottom 10% under$41,440Top 10% over$78,720

Entry-level starting pay (estimate): $19.92/hr
Jobs in this area: 90
After cost of living: $57,910
Median hourly pay: $27.61/hr
vs U.S. median: +7%
vs Virginia median: −3%
Mean (average) pay: $59,160 a year · $28.44 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 16820, Charlottesville, VA). 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 Charlottesville, VA 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	$19.92	$41,440
25th percentile	$22.14	$46,040
Median (50th)	$27.61	$57,420
75th percentile	$31.85	$66,250
90th percentile	$37.85	$78,720

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

How Charlottesville, VA compares

Charlottesville ranks 6th of 11 Virginia metro areas for welder pay.
Welders are less concentrated in the Charlottesville area than nationally: 0.8 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.31 times the U.S. share.

Other Virginia metro areas

Other trades in Charlottesville, VA

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

Questions

Do welders make more in Charlottesville or Virginia Beach?: Virginia Beach pays more: the median is $57,420 in Charlottesville and $62,670 in Virginia Beach, a 8% 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 16820 (Charlottesville, VA). 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 (99.1, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures