Do welders make more in Appleton or Minneapolis?

Minneapolis pays more: the median is $58,920 in Appleton and $61,880 in Minneapolis, a 5% difference.

Welder salary in Appleton, WI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Welders in the Appleton, WI area earn a median of $58,920 a year, or $28.33 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $82,680 a year. Across all of Wisconsin, the median is $58,410, so Appleton pays 1% more than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$58,920

Bottom 10% under$46,460Top 10% over$82,680

Entry-level starting pay (estimate): $22.34/hr
Jobs in this area: 970
After cost of living: $63,750
Median hourly pay: $28.33/hr
vs U.S. median: +10%
vs Wisconsin median: +1%
Mean (average) pay: $60,600 a year · $29.14 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 11540, Appleton, WI). 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 Appleton, WI 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	$22.34	$46,460
25th percentile	$24.46	$50,880
Median (50th)	$28.33	$58,920
75th percentile	$31.52	$65,570
90th percentile	$39.75	$82,680

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

How Appleton, WI compares

Appleton ranks 9th of 15 Wisconsin metro areas for welder pay.
Welders are more concentrated in the Appleton area than nationally: 7.8 of every 1,000 jobs, 2.9 times the U.S. share.

Other Wisconsin metro areas

Other trades in Appleton, WI

Electrician HVAC technician Lineman Plumber Diesel mechanic Carpenter Elevator mechanic Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer Ironworker Millwright

Questions

Do welders make more in Appleton or Minneapolis?: Minneapolis pays more: the median is $58,920 in Appleton and $61,880 in Minneapolis, a 5% 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 11540 (Appleton, WI). 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 (92.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures