Welding engineer vs weld inspector

The differences between welding engineers and weld inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a welding engineer has an average salary of $84,923, which is higher than the $50,441 average annual salary of a weld inspector.

The top three skills for a welding engineer include arc welding, GMAW and GTAW. The most important skills for a weld inspector are pipeline project, NDT, and NDE.

Welding engineer vs weld inspector overview

	Welding Engineer	Weld Inspector
Yearly salary	$84,923	$50,441
Hourly rate	$40.83	$24.25
Growth rate	6%	-3%
Number of jobs	39,405	16,559
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	High School Diploma, 32%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	-	-

Welding engineer vs weld inspector salary

Welding engineers and weld inspectors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Welding Engineer	Weld Inspector
Average salary	$84,923	$50,441
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $138,000	Between $33,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	Houston, TX	-
Highest paying state	Arizona	-
Best paying company	T.D. Williamson	-
Best paying industry	Energy	-

Differences between welding engineer and weld inspector education

There are a few differences between a welding engineer and a weld inspector in terms of educational background:

	Welding Engineer	Weld Inspector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	High School Diploma, 32%
Most common major	Industrial Technology	Precision Metal Working
Most common college	University of Washington	-

Welding engineer vs weld inspector demographics

Here are the differences between welding engineers' and weld inspectors' demographics:

	Welding Engineer	Weld Inspector
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 94.3% Female, 5.7%	Male, 90.3% Female, 9.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 2.8% Unknown, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.3% White, 71.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 8.1% White, 57.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	10%	4%

Differences between welding engineer and weld inspector duties and responsibilities

Welding engineer example responsibilities.

Manage CWI's to ensure interpretations and directions are follow consistently.
Lead extrusion billet design and specification of hot-and-cold work tooling for press-and-draw bench use.
Operate and train operators on multiple CNC equipment and manage all products produce by the machines.
Manage aluminum structural/pipe fabrication turnaround: cross-country CGIT/IPB megawatt electrical power conductors.
Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
Experience in GMAW, FCAW, SMAW, GTAW and SA welding processes.

Weld inspector example responsibilities.

Inspect all coating application to ensure proper application and WFT is achieved per clients and manufacturers specifications and standards.
Instruct current and new welders in drawing and WPS reading.
Monitor compliance with WPS, specifications, codes, and standards.
Review shop drawings while performing tasks according to specifications of SMAW type welding
Record all detail defects for use in the future with FDA regulations.
Inspect FBE coating on final bench and calibrations of all test equipment.

Welding engineer vs weld inspector skills

Common welding engineer skills

Arc Welding, 8%
GMAW, 7%
GTAW, 5%
Continuous Improvement, 5%
CAD, 4%
Procedure Specifications, 3%

Common weld inspector skills

Pipeline Project, 9%
NDT, 8%
NDE, 7%
Inspect Welds, 7%
PT, 6%
Tie-Ins, 5%