WELDING RATES GUIDE
Welder hourly rate: what to charge in 2026
What US welders charge by the hour, by the size of the job, by the process and by the inch, what materials add, how a mobile call differs from shop work — and a free calculator that turns the figures into a price list for your website.
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The short answer
US welders charge $58 to $128 an hour for repairs, maintenance and small jobs, or a fixed price of $189 to $1,504 for a project, or $2 to $7 per inch or foot of weld (Homeyou, updated July 2026). Its job sizes: $74–$341 for a small spot weld (average $183), $245–$540 for a standard joint or seam ($371), $489–$1,656 for structural or heavy-duty work ($877) and $351–$2,405 for custom or specialty fabrication ($1,150); the average welding project comes to $323, in a range of $78 to $903.
The process moves the price: a MIG job runs $139–$495 (about $325), TIG $219–$1,025 (about $600), stick $114–$984 and flux-cored $220–$891 (Homeyou). A second cost guide puts fence welding at $15 to $120 an hour depending on the metal and the welder's experience, and a typical fence welding repair at $100 to $800 (Fixr, January 2025, on its metal-fence repair page).
Materials are on top of labor: steel at $0.42–$0.83 a pound, aluminum $1–$2, stainless $0.42–$0.73, rods and filler wire $3–$15, and a tank of shielding gas $59–$271 (Homeyou). Homeyou notes a minimum service fee or flat call-out charge on mobile work without putting a figure on it; set yours from your drive time.
The employee benchmark is $25.84 an hour — the median for welders, cutters, solderers and brazers, $53,750 a year (O*NET, 2025 wages). Put your rates on your website: “welder hourly rate” is Googled about 390 times a month and put to AI assistants about 210, and “how much do welders charge” about 270 (DataForSEO, October 2026).
AT A GLANCE · NOVEMBER 2026
Welding rates at a glance
| The job | Typical US price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate, welders | $58–$128 an hour | Homeyou, July 2026 |
| Small spot weld or repair | $74–$341 | Homeyou, July 2026 |
| Standard joint or seam | $245–$540 | Homeyou, July 2026 |
| Structural or heavy-duty work | $489–$1,656 | Homeyou, July 2026 |
| Typical metal-fence welding repair | $100–$800 | Fixr, January 2025 |
The same published figures as the full rate table below; the calculator works out a price for your own job.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this weld?
Price the job by the hours it takes or by its size, pick the process, and add the gas and rods. The range uses the published US figures in the table below.
Suggested price
$175–$385
hourly welding — repairs, maintenance and small jobs, 3 hours
A starting range from published US figures — not your price until you've timed your own jobs and priced the metal. Quote materials as their own line, and say what your mobile call-out covers.
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RATES · NOVEMBER 2026
Welding rates (2026)
Typical US prices by the hour and by the size of the job, with a second guide's repair range. The hourly and job-size figures are Homeyou's (updated July 2026); the repair range is Fixr's welder-labor figure on its metal-fence repair page (January 2025).
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Hourly welding — repairs, maintenance and small jobs | $58–$128 per hour · about $175–$385 for 3 hours · Homeyou |
| By the size of the job (fixed price) | Small spot weld or repair: $74–$341 · Standard joint or seam: $245–$540 · Structural or heavy-duty work: $489–$1,656 · Custom or specialty fabrication: $351–$2,405 · Homeyou |
| Typical fence welding repair (a second cost guide) | Typical metal-fence welding repair: $100–$800 · Fixr |
| Hourly rate, welders | $58–$128 an hour · Homeyou |
Rates read off each publisher's page in November 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers, rounded to whole dollars and to the nearest $5 from $100 up. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What the process and the materials add
The TIG multiplier is our arithmetic from Homeyou's MIG and TIG job averages; the gas and rod figures are Homeyou's material prices (July 2026).
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Process: tig | Homeyou's TIG job average $600 ÷ its MIG job average $325 · Homeyou figures |
| Shielding gas, per tank | +$59–$271 · Homeyou |
| Rods or filler wire | +$3–$15 · Homeyou |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to set your welding rates
Six steps from the employee benchmark to a price list that separates the hour, the job and the metal.
Know the employee benchmark
The median welder earns $25.84 an hour, $53,750 a year (O*NET, 2025 wages). A welder working for himself charges two to five times that because the rig, the truck, the insurance, the gas and the unbilled drive are his.
Choose hour, job or inch
Homeyou lists three models: $58–$128 an hour for repairs and small jobs, $189–$1,504 fixed for a project, or $2–$7 per inch or foot of weld. Hourly fits repairs you can't scope on the phone; fixed fits fabrication you can draw before you start.
Size the job
$74–$341 for a spot repair, $245–$540 for a joint or seam, $489–$1,656 for structural work, $351–$2,405 for custom fabrication (Homeyou). The metal and the consumables are billed on top of every one of those.
Price the process and the metal
TIG jobs average about $600 against about $325 for MIG on Homeyou's figures; aluminum costs $1–$2 a pound against $0.42–$0.83 for steel. A stainless or aluminum TIG job is a different price from a mild-steel MIG repair — say so on the list.
Bill materials as their own line
Rods and filler wire $3–$15, a tank of shielding gas $59–$271, steel by the pound (Homeyou). A price list that says “plus materials” is honest only if the invoice shows them.
Set a mobile minimum
Homeyou notes mobile welders charge a minimum service fee or a flat call-out without putting a figure on it. Work yours out from the drive: at $58–$128 an hour, an hour on the road is the floor of any call-out.
The rate, worked through
A trailer hitch repair takes three hours at the $58–$128 range: $174–$384 in labor, plus rods and a share of a gas tank. Priced as a job instead, it is a standard joint or seam at $245–$540 (Homeyou) — the two models overlap, and the fixed price pays better when the work goes to plan.
A custom steel gate frame is fabrication at $351–$2,405; weld it in aluminum with TIG and Homeyou's averages put the job about 1.85 times a MIG job's price, with the metal at $1–$2 a pound on top. A typical fence repair on the second guide's figures lands at $100–$800 (Fixr).
So “welding from $75 an hour, spot repairs from $150, fabrication priced from the drawing, materials extra” — $75 sitting inside Homeyou's $58–$128 range — is a fair first line for your price list. The figures are the publishers'; the sums are ours.
What to charge where you work
Neither cost guide publishes a state table. The Bureau of Economic Analysis's 2024 regional price parities put California at 110.7 and Arkansas at 86.9 against a US average of 100 (released February 2026) — about $83 and $65 for a $75 hour. Mobile work prices the drive as well as the weld, so a rural welder's call-out minimum does more of the work than the hourly rate does.
In the US, whether your state taxes welding labor, what a structural job's code requires of the welder's certification, and whether a contractor's license applies above a job value are set state by state and job by job — check your state's rules and confirm with a tax adviser.
Outside the US, treat the dollar figures as a shape, not a price: an hourly rate for repairs, a fixed price for fabrication, the process and the metal priced apart, and materials on their own line hold everywhere. Check what the welders near you publish.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what welding work costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: welding from $75 an hour, spot repairs from $150, fabrication priced from the drawing, materials extra” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse welding website templates or see how Zarla builds welding websites.
Still setting up? Write your welding business plan, browse welding business name ideas, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google. Not licensed yet? Start with how to become a welder. Raising prices you set a year ago? The price increase letter tells customers a month ahead.
Welding rates: common questions
$58–$128 an hour for repairs, maintenance and small jobs (Homeyou, July 2026); a second guide puts fence welding at $15–$120 an hour by metal and experience (Fixr, January 2025). The calculator above prices a job by the hour or by its size.
By size: $74–$341 for a spot repair, $245–$540 for a standard joint or seam, $489–$1,656 for structural work and $351–$2,405 for custom fabrication (Homeyou). A fixed project price runs $189–$1,504, and the average project comes to $323.
$2–$7 per inch or foot of weld (Homeyou, July 2026). Per-inch pricing suits long seams and fence or railing work where the length is known before you start.
Yes on Homeyou's figures: a TIG job runs $219–$1,025 (about $600) against $139–$495 (about $325) for MIG, with stick at $114–$984 and flux-cored at $220–$891. Aluminum and stainless add their own metal cost on top.
Homeyou notes a minimum service fee or flat call-out charge on mobile work without naming a figure. Work it out from the drive: at $58–$128 an hour, an hour on the road sets the floor, and the job's labor and materials sit on top.
The median welder, cutter, solderer or brazer earns $25.84 an hour, $53,750 a year (O*NET, 2025 wages). A self-employed welder charges more per hour because the rig, truck, insurance and unbilled drive are his own.
Yes — an hourly rate and a “repairs from” price answer the first question before the call, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your rates, and change them when your costs do.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US figures for what welders charge by the hour, by the job and by the weld, with materials on top — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- Homeyou — How Much Do Welders Cost in 2026? (Emilly McNiller, reviewed by Omar Ridgeway; updated 23 July 2026) — dated July 2026, read November 2026
- Fixr — Metal Fence Repair Cost: welder labor and repair figures (Adam Graham, reviewed by Cristina Miguelez; updated 31 January 2025) — dated January 2025, read November 2026
- O*NET OnLine — 51-4121.00 Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers (median wages, 2025; dated by the site's update) — dated October 2026, read November 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your welding rates on your website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your rates go in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.