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Job outlook for welding engineers in the United States
Welding engineer job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected welding engineer job growth rate is 6% from 2018-2028.
About 1,300 new jobs for welding engineers are projected over the next decade.
Welding engineer salaries have increased 2% for welding engineers in the last 5 years.
There are over 4,789 welding engineers currently employed in the United States.
There are 39,405 active welding engineer job openings in the US.
The average welding engineer salary is $84,923.
Are welding engineer jobs in demand?
Welding engineer job and salary trends over time
Welding engineer jobs over time
Welding engineer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4,789 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 5,503 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 5,966 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 5,990 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 6,050 | 0.00% |
Average welding engineer salary over time
Welding engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $84,923 | $40.83 | +2.4% |
| 2024 | $82,899 | $39.86 | +1.0% |
| 2023 | $82,038 | $39.44 | --2.3% |
| 2022 | $84,009 | $40.39 | +1.4% |
| 2021 | $82,854 | $39.83 | +2.2% |
Welding engineer jobs by state
Most common states for welding engineers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 175 | 25% |
| 2 | Delaware | 961,939 | 84 | 9% |
| 3 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 636 | 8% |
| 4 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 458 | 7% |
| 5 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 92 | 7% |
| 6 | California | 39,536,653 | 2,321 | 6% |
| 7 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 446 | 6% |
| 8 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 354 | 6% |
| 9 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 344 | 6% |
| 10 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 266 | 6% |
| 11 | Alabama | 4,874,747 | 229 | 5% |
| 12 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 149 | 5% |
| 13 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 392 | 4% |
| 14 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 361 | 4% |
| 15 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 309 | 4% |
| 16 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 243 | 4% |
| 17 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 237 | 4% |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 232 | 4% |
| 19 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 143 | 4% |
| 20 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 78 | 4% |
Most common cities for welding engineers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Kingstown | 1 | 4% | $52,645 |
| 2 | Shelby | 2 | 3% | $47,445 |
| 3 | Jupiter | 1 | 2% | $62,565 |
| 4 | Shakopee | 1 | 2% | $58,981 |
| 5 | Overland Park | 2 | 1% | $50,624 |
| 6 | Hawthorne | 1 | 1% | $97,645 |
| 7 | Kansas City | 1 | 1% | $50,429 |
| 8 | Fremont | 1 | 0% | $102,395 |
| 9 | San Diego | 1 | 0% | $94,059 |
Welding Engineer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of welding engineer experts
North Dakota State University
North Dakota State University
Clarkson University
Kettering University
George Mason University
Wichita State University
Dr. David Grewell Ph.D.
Department Chair and ProfessorNorth Dakota State University
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department
What skills will help Welding Engineers earn the most?
Dr. David Grewell Ph.D.: Good communication and leadership skills that are embedded in their curriculum enable IE's to quickly move up the corporate ladder and become the CEO of the nation's leading companies.
Andriy Voronov
ProfessorNorth Dakota State University
Coatings and Polymeric Materials Department
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Welding Engineers?
Andriy Voronov: I think most graduate programs in materials science offer opportunities for interdisciplinary research and educational activities. Their philosophy is to educate and prepare job prospects by providing advanced aspects of work, including extensive collaborations between departments, programs, institutions or with industrial partners. Offering specialized trainings in various areas, graduate programs aim to merge basic and applied research within the certain field. With this said, quit often graduate programs work also with leading industrial scientists who help to provide to the graduates new and practical directions to become competitive at the job market. Answering your question more specifically, graduate programs do target as complementary and comprehensive education as possible. It will be interesting to hear from graduates what courses they took have the biggest impact for them, as well as if they need any additional certifications/licenses and which specifically.
What technical skills for a Welding Engineer stand out to employers?
Tracy Farrell: Technical skills that employers are seeking include "real" computer skills like Microsoft Office Suite tools, proper communication skills via email and website development and postings, developing proper document format that is appropriate to send to stakeholders (i.e., letter formatting, report writing, email formatting); strong communication skills that include speaking professionally and respectfully to stakeholders as well as writing professionally (i.e., making eye contact when speaking, proper handshake, respectful dialogue including questioning); project management - knowing how to organize work and develop a timeline that includes who will be responsible for what and follow through; data analysis - being able to not only present data in an organized and understandable manner; but, be able to interpret data correctly offering the justification behind what they are interpreting and why.
Respectfully, today's graduates do not understand that being able to text and use social media does not prepare them for "real" computer skills. Many students that I have in high school and in college do not have proper writing skills, document formatting skills, or document management skills to know how to save documents properly and where to save to.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Welding Engineers?
Scott Grasman Ph.D.: Hybrid and virtual learning can be effective, but students may lack hands-on experiences in some cases. Graduates from programs that complement instruction with co-op education, and/or have been effective in creating virtual laboratories, will be more successful.
Perhaps more importantly, social dynamics have changed significantly. Students have fewer opportunities to learn from other students or to have meaningful interactions with faculty, which may cause lack of motivation or poor mentoring.
Graduates, however, may benefit from technology changes being implemented in traditional classrooms. As graduates progress in their careers they will likely pursue additional educational opportunities, many in the hybrid or virtual environment with which they have become familiar.
Dr. Lance Sherry Ph.D.
Director, Center for Air Transportation Systems Research Assoc. Professor, System Engineering and Operations Research Dept.George Mason University
What type of skills will young Welding Engineers need?
Dr. Lance Sherry Ph.D.: Critical thinking - don't take things for granted. Instrumentalize the process, and collect the performance data. Analyse the data, and test hypotheses. Once the problem and issue are understood, then, and only then, develop a solution.
Too many times we rush in with a technology solution that does not really solve the problem.
Also go and listen to the stakeholders. Understand their perspectives and account for these perspectives in the design solution.
Too many times we rush in with a technology solution that causes more problems than it solves because we have not truly understood the perspectives of the stakeholders.
Dr. Atul Rai Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorWichita State University
School of Accountancy, Barton School of Business
What experience really stands out on Welding Engineer resumes?
Dr. Atul Rai Ph.D.: Employers are looking for people who can integrate in multi-disciplinary environments to solve complex problems. They are looking for resumes that show quick learning. Such resumes will permanently be in great demand. Because the world is interconnected much more than it ever was, employees today will deal with customers, supply-chains, and fellow employees who are spread all over the world. It means that an experience that showcases the global perspective will be in demand over the long-term.