Skilled trades and making things · Ohio
Welder: what the job actually is
Joining metal so it holds, usually from a drawing and usually to a standard somebody will test.
By Nick Gonzalez, founder, U.S. Air Force veteranChecked against official Ohio sources Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
The work
What this job actually is
- Melting the edges of two pieces of metal so they become one piece that holds under load, pressure or inspection.
- Most of the day is not welding. It is reading a drawing, measuring, cutting, grinding and clamping parts square, then a few minutes of arc.
- There are several processes (MIG, TIG, stick, flux-core) and they feel completely different. Liking one does not mean liking all of them.
- Shop work is indoors at the same bench with production targets. Field work is construction sites, pipelines and plants, in whatever weather shows up.
- On structural or pressure work your welds get inspected, X-rayed or bent until they break, and a bad weld comes back to you.
A Tuesday
What a normal day looks like
Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.
- 6:45: In, boots on, pull the drawing for the job you started yesterday.
- 7:00: Grind and clean yesterday's tacks. Nothing good gets welded onto dirty metal.
- 7:45: Measure, clamp, square it up, tack it. If the fit-up is off, the weld will be off no matter how well you run it.
- 8:30: Hood down. Forty minutes of total focus on a puddle of liquid metal the width of a pencil.
- 10:00: Inspect your own work, grind out the bad spot, run it again.
- 12:00: Lunch. Your hands smell like metal.
- 1:00 to 3:00: A new part, a new thickness, new settings. Run a test bead on scrap first, then the real thing while you are tired.
Honestly
Who loves this, and who should not do it
- You would rather be judged on something you can point at than on how a meeting went.
- You can focus hard for long stretches with no phone.
- Heat, noise and getting dirty do not bother you much.
- You are patient with setup. The good welders are fussy about the fit-up.
- You need variety. A production shop can mean the same weld hundreds of times.
- Heat, sparks, fumes, confined spaces or heights bother you. Most welding jobs involve at least two of those.
- Your eyes or back already give you trouble.
- You dislike being tested. Welders retest on new jobs and new processes for their whole careers.
The route in
How you actually get there in Ohio
Get training in high school, at an adult center, or on the job
Employers often prefer a high school diploma and some technical training. That can come from high school career-tech, a community college, or one of Ohio's 48 publicly funded Ohio Technical Centers, which train adults in skilled trades and manufacturing. Some employers hire beginners and train them on the job.Earn a welding certification by passing a hands-on test
The American Welding Society's Certified Welder program is a performance test at an AWS Accredited Test Facility. It has no education, experience or prior-certification prerequisites. You weld a test piece and an inspector judges it. You have to keep it current by showing you are still welding.Or start through a registered apprenticeship
Apprenticeships pair paid work with classroom training. In Ohio they are registered through ApprenticeOhio; search the federal Apprenticeship Finder for welding programs near you.Know there is no state welder license from Ohio's contractor board
Ohio's Construction Industry Licensing Board licenses five trades (electrical, HVAC, plumbing, hydronics and refrigeration), and welding is not one of them. What moves your career is the certifications you pass for specific processes, positions and codes, and the employer who trusts them.
While you are still in high school
- Ohio school districts must offer career-technical education in grades 7 through 12. Ask your counselor where the nearest welding program is, often at a joint vocational school or career center.
- AWS Certified Welder tests (in MIG, TIG, stick and flux-core) and Lincoln Electric welding credentials are on Ohio's industry-recognized credentials list. Ask if your program tests for them before you graduate.
- Look into a pre-apprenticeship. Most of Ohio's are in manufacturing and construction, and many are for students aged 16 to 20.
- Ask your nearest community college whether it offers a welding course through College Credit Plus.
Where this comes from: American Welding Society: Certified Welder program · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: How to become a welder · Ohio Department of Higher Education: Ohio Technical Centers · Ohio Department of Commerce: Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB) · Ohio Department of Job and Family Services: ApprenticeOhio · U.S. Department of Labor: Apprenticeship Finder · Ohio Department of Education and Workforce: career-technical education admissions FAQ · Ohio Department of Education and Workforce: industry-recognized credentials · Ohio Revised Code 3365.03: College Credit Plus eligibility (grades 9 to 12). Rules change, so check the official page before you rely on a detail.
The money
What it pays in Ohio
Last on purpose. Pay matters, but it is a bad reason to pick a job you would dislike for thirty years.
- $50,340
- Median pay in Ohio, a year
- $24.20
- Median pay in Ohio, an hour
- 20,330
- People doing this job in Ohio
- $50,340
- Median pay in the Akron area, a year
Most people in Ohio earn between $38,990 (the lowest-paid tenth, usually new starters) and $70,510 (the highest-paid tenth) a year.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Ohio and Akron, OH metro area. Median means half earn more and half earn less.
Try it this week
Find out if you can focus like a welder
Watch videos of the same joint welded with MIG, TIG and stick. Write down which one you wanted to keep watching.
Find a simple welding symbol on a drawing online and work out what it is asking for.
Set a timer for 25 minutes and do one fiddly, repetitive task with your hands and no phone: a model kit, sanding something smooth, taking apart an old appliance. Notice whether the time went fast or slow.
Call one local fabrication shop and ask whether they take apprentices or trainees, and what they look for.
Questions to ask somebody who does it
- What did you weld today, and was any of it interesting?
- How much of your day is actually arc time?
- Which process do you choose when you get to choose?
- Which certification test made the biggest difference to your career?
- What do the people who quit in the first year have in common?
Can you own one?
Yes, and it is one of the more realistic trades to own. A mobile welding rig is a truck, a machine and a phone, and welders do repair work for farms, shops and contractors. Welding is not one of the trades Ohio's contractor licensing board covers, but check with your city or county about local business rules, and carry liability insurance. The hard parts are quoting, invoicing and knowing which jobs to turn down.
Thinking about it? How to start a business in Ohio and the free Business 101 course are the place to begin.
Questions
Quick answers
- How much does a welder make in Ohio?
- The median pay for a welder in Ohio is $50,340 a year ($24.20 an hour), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2025. Most people earn between $38,990 and $70,510.
- How do you become a welder in Ohio?
- Get training in high school, at an adult center, or on the job. Earn a welding certification by passing a hands-on test. Or start through a registered apprenticeship. Know there is no state welder license from Ohio's contractor board.
- Can you own your own business as a welder in Ohio?
- Yes, and it is one of the more realistic trades to own. A mobile welding rig is a truck, a machine and a phone, and welders do repair work for farms, shops and contractors. Welding is not one of the trades Ohio's contractor licensing board covers, but check with your city or county about local business rules, and carry liability insurance. The hard parts are quoting, invoicing and knowing which jobs to turn down.
Close cousins
Jobs like this one
- MachinistCutting metal and plastic into precise parts with lathes, mills and computer-controlled machines, to measurements finer than a human hair.$57,940 a year
- PlumberInstalling and repairing the pipes that bring clean water in and take waste out, plus the gas lines, water heaters and fixtures attached to them.$63,330 a year
- Industrial maintenance mechanicKeeping a factory's machines running: fixing breakdowns fast, and doing the routine maintenance that stops them breaking in the first place.$65,130 a year
- CNC operatorRunning computer-controlled mills and lathes that cut metal and plastic parts to a drawing, then measuring the parts to prove they are right.$49,160 a year
Still deciding?
Start with you, then look at the work
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