- Rhode Island ranks 37th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Rhode Island pays less than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 2,300 welders on payrolls in Rhode Island.
- At the state median wage, a welding and fabrication shop needs to bill about $113.30 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Welder pay in Rhode Island, 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 | $17.09 | $35,560 | $18.87 |
| 25th percentile | $24.32 | $50,580 | $22.50 |
| Median | $24.32 | $50,580 | $25.84 |
| 75th percentile | $32.82 | $68,260 | $30.29 |
| 90th percentile | $38.94 | $81,000 | $37.28 |
| Average (mean) | $27.97 | $58,180 | $27.29 |
Pay spreads out a lot in Rhode Island. The bottom tenth earn $17.09 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $38.94 or more, a gap of 2.3 times against 2 nationally. Where a welder sits on that range matters as much as the state.
The bottom of the scale is lower than nationally ($17.09 against $18.87) while the top is higher ($38.94 against $37.28), so the climb from new hire to top earner is longer here.
The average wage, $27.97, sits 15% 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 Rhode Island compares with other states
Over a full year, the Rhode Island median of $50,580 is $3,170 less than the national $53,750.
In the state ranking, Rhode Island sits 37th, between Florida ($24.35) and Idaho ($24.30). North Carolina has exactly the same median, $24.32, so the two share that place. The range runs from $23.06 in Arkansas to $38.87 in Alaska.
Every one of the neighboring states pays welders more than Rhode Island. The closest is Massachusetts at $30.08, and the biggest gap is with Connecticut.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
Every state ranked, with the national pay range: national welder salary by state.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Rhode Island |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | $24.32 | $50,580 | |
| Connecticut | $31.19 | $64,880 | +$6.87 an hour |
| Massachusetts | $30.08 | $62,570 | +$5.76 an hour |
How many welders work in Rhode Island
About 2,300 welders work on payrolls in Rhode Island, 0.6% of the 416,210 nationwide, the 39th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 4.6 of every 1,000 jobs in Rhode Island, 1.7 times the national share.
What a welding and fabrication shop in Rhode Island should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a welding and fabrication shop in Rhode Island paying the state median of $24.32, on the labor rate calculator's 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 | $24.32 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $54,455 |
| Break-even rate | ($54,455 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $96.30 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $96.30 ÷ 0.85 | $113.30 |
That is $113.30 per billable hour, 4.7 times the wage, and $2.67 less than the $115.97 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $32.82 in Rhode Island, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $128.23.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $24.32, the rate only drops to $113.30.
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 Rhode Island
- 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.