Welder Salary in Gulfport, MS: Median $39,934 in 2026
Gulfport (MS) · COL index 84 · Unemployment 4.7% · Metro pop 415,000 · Rank #263 of 283 for Welder salary
A Welder in Gulfport earns an estimated median of $39,934 per year. That figure starts from the Mississippi state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($41,261) and scales it by Gulfport's composite cost-of-living index of 84 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $36,265; the 90th percentile reaches $74,068. After federal, Mississippi state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Welder takes home approximately $33,264/year — about $2,772/month or $1,279 every other week.
Compared to the national Welder median of $47,540, Gulfport pays -16.0%. Relative to the Gulfport median household income of $45,800, a Weldersalary runs -12.8%. Local unemployment is 4.7%[3], with an estimated 74 annual Welder openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (397,700).
Welder Snapshot — Gulfport (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Gulfport | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welder median salary | $39,934 | $47,540 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $36,265 | $37,470 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $74,068 | $76,530 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $33,264 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $219,771 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,406/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,300/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $61,266 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 84.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 4.7% | — | [3] |
How Welder Salaries Work in Gulfport
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Mississippi state-level OEWS median ($41,261) and scaling by Gulfport's composite cost-of-living index (84)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Mississippi state income tax at a 2.4% effective rate ($952/yr on the $39,934 median)[10].
Gulfport also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. Near-national unemployment means a balanced market — employers and candidates negotiate from roughly equal positions. Median household income in the metro is $61,266, which frames what "a good Welder salary" means locally: a $$39,934 wage pays about 65% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Gulfport
Estimated annual expense shares on a $33,264 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Gulfport's COL index of 84. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Gulfport's COL index of 84[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $950/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Gulfport
Renting
Buying
At $2,772/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $832/mo. Gulfport's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,406/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,300/mo), making rent affordable on a median Welder salary. For homebuyers, the 4.4× price-to-income ratio is workable with a strong credit profile and manageable other debts.
How Gulfport Stacks Up for Welders
Against 283 major US cities: Gulfport ranks #263 for nominal Welder salary, #90 for rent affordability, and #32 for overall purchasing power. Gulfport is mid-pack: solid nominal salaries partly absorbed by cost of living. Whether it "pays well" depends heavily on housing choices.
Nearby Cities — Welder Salary Comparison
Gulfport's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs MS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulfport, MS ★ | $39,934 | 84 | $950 | — |
| Jackson, MS | $37,557 | 79 | $850 | -6.0% |
| Peoria, IL | $39,934 | 84 | $800 | +0.0% |
| El Paso, TX | $39,934 | 84 | $745 | +0.0% |
| Fayetteville, NC | $39,934 | 84 | $859 | +0.0% |
| Fort Wayne, IN | $39,934 | 84 | $850 | +0.0% |
Welder Job Market in Gulfport
Gulfport has an estimated 74 annual Welderopenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 397,700 national Welders[1]. The 4.7% unemployment rate[3] is near the national average, with steady turnover across most sectors.
About the profession: Welders join metal components using heat and pressure techniques. They work in manufacturing, construction, and repair industries across the country. Typical entry requirement: high school diploma / postsecondary training. Projected growth through 2034: 2%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Gulfport
Early-career Welders in Gulfport start around $36,265, reach the city median ($39,934) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($74,068) at senior / specialized levels.
Related trades professions in Gulfport
Calculators for Welders in Gulfport
Other professions in Gulfport
Frequently Asked Questions — Welder in Gulfport
How much does a Welder make in Gulfport, MS?
The estimated median salary for a Welder in Gulfport is $39,934/year, scaled from the national median ($47,540) by Gulfport's composite cost-of-living index of 84 (US = 100). After federal, Mississippi state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $33,264/year or $2,772/month.
Can a Welder afford to live in Gulfport?
On $2,772/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $832/month. Gulfport's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,406/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,300/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 28.5%, making housing affordable for a Welder at the local median. Home-buyers face 4.4× price-to-income, needing roughly 4.4 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Welder pay in Gulfport?
On $39,934 gross, a Welder in Gulfport pays approximately $2,663 in federal income tax (6.7% effective), $952 in Mississippi state income tax (2.4% effective), and $3,055 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 16.7%. Some Mississippi cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Gulfport rank for Welder salaries vs other cities?
Gulfport ranks #263 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Welder salary, #90 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #32 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Welder in Gulfport?
On $33,264 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Gulfport looks like: housing $11,400/yr (34.3%); food $3,608/yr; transportation $3,114/yr; healthcare $2,217/yr; utilities $1,530/yr; savings + discretionary $11,395/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Gulfport's COL index of 84 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Welder job market like in Gulfport?
Gulfport's unemployment rate is 4.7% across the metro of 415,000. Estimated annual Welder openings: ~74 (extrapolated from 397,700 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The market is near national averages with steady turnover.
Do Gulfport employers pay above or below the Mississippi median for Welders?
Not consistently — Gulfport's estimated Welder median of $39,934 is 16.0% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Gulfport median is derived from the Mississippi state-level BLS OEWS median ($41,261), scaled by Gulfport's composite cost-of-living index of 84. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Weldermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Mississippi's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 84index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 86.8(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Mississippi Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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