- Illinois ranks 34th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Illinois pays more than 1 of its 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 16,260 welders on payrolls in Illinois.
- At the state median wage, a welding and fabrication shop needs to bill about $113.91 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Welder pay in Illinois, bottom to top
BLS counts welders, cutters, solderers and brazers as one group. It covers people who join or cut metal with welding, cutting, soldering and brazing equipment, by hand or on machines, in shops, plants and on job sites.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.70 | $38,890 | $18.87 |
| 25th percentile | $22.36 | $46,500 | $22.50 |
| Median | $24.67 | $51,320 | $25.84 |
| 75th percentile | $29.58 | $61,520 | $30.29 |
| 90th percentile | $36.89 | $76,730 | $37.28 |
| Average (mean) | $26.89 | $55,930 | $27.29 |
From the bottom tenth ($18.70) to the top tenth ($36.89), the top of the scale pays about 2 times the bottom in Illinois, close to the 2 times spread for welders nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $0.17 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $0.39 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage, $26.89, sits 9% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical welder makes.
How Illinois compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $51,320 in Illinois against $53,750 nationally, $2,430 less.
In the state ranking, Illinois sits 34th, between Kentucky ($24.74) and Mississippi ($24.57). The range runs from $23.06 in Arkansas to $38.87 in Alaska.
Against its neighboring states, Illinois is in the middle: Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin pay more, and Indiana pays less.
Every state ranked, with the national pay range: national welder salary by state.
How many welders work in Illinois
About 16,260 welders work on payrolls in Illinois, 3.9% of the 416,210 nationwide, the 6th largest count among the states.
That is 2.7 of every 1,000 jobs in Illinois, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a welding and fabrication shop in Illinois should charge
Say you run a welding and fabrication shop in Illinois and pay the state median of $24.67 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on its starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $24.67 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $55,239 |
| Break-even rate | ($55,239 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $96.83 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $96.83 ÷ 0.85 | $113.91 |
That is $113.91 per billable hour, 4.6 times the wage, and $2.05 less than the $115.97 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $29.58 in Illinois, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $122.54.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.36, the rate only drops to $109.86.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a welder in Illinois
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how welding and fabrication shops run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 51-4121, welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: welder salary by state.