Welder Salary in Los Angeles, CA: Median $82,245 in 2026
Los Angeles (CA) · COL index 173 · Unemployment 5.3% · Metro pop 13,200,000 · Rank #7 of 283 for Welder salary
A Welder in Los Angeles earns an estimated median of $82,245 per year. That figure starts from the California state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($53,338) and scales it by Los Angeles's composite cost-of-living index of 173 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $57,777; the 90th percentile reaches $118,006. After federal, California state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Welder takes home approximately $62,734/year — about $5,228/month or $2,413 every other week.
Compared to the national Welder median of $47,540, Los Angeles pays +73.0%. Relative to the Los Angeles median household income of $76,000, a Weldersalary runs +8.2%. Local unemployment is 5.3%[3], with an estimated 3,056 annual Welder openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (397,700).
Welder Snapshot — Los Angeles (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 | Los Angeles | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welder median salary | $82,245 | $47,540 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $57,777 | $37,470 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $118,006 | $76,530 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $62,734 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $967,836 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $2,895/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $2,675/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $93,525 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 173.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 5.3% | — | [3] |
How Welder Salaries Work in Los Angeles
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the California state-level OEWS median ($53,338) and scaling by Los Angeles's composite cost-of-living index (173)[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 California state income tax at a 4.5% effective rate ($3,676/yr on the $82,245 median)[10].
Los Angeles 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 $93,525, which frames what "a good Welder salary" means locally: a $$82,245 wage pays about 88% 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.
Welder Salary & Cost-of-Living Context — Los Angeles
Buy vs rent in Los Angeles
Monthly PITI on the $967,836 median home in Los Angeles is ~$6,425/mo — vs a $2,895/mo median rent. Rent burden on median household income is 37.1%, which exceeds the recommended 30% guideline for housing costs.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Los Angeles
Estimated annual expense shares on a $62,734 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Los Angeles's COL index of 173. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Los Angeles's COL index of 173[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $2,050/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Los Angeles
Renting
Buying
At $5,228/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,568/mo. Los Angeles's typical 1–2BR rent runs $2,895/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $2,675/mo), making rent affordable on a median Welder salary. For homebuyers, the 10.5× price-to-income ratio is stretched — expect DTI friction on FHA / conventional underwriting without a co-borrower.
How Los Angeles Stacks Up for Welders
Against 283 major US cities: Los Angeles ranks #7 for nominal Welder salary, #108 for rent affordability, and #277 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Los Angeles's nominal wage premium. Welders here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Welder Salary Comparison
Los Angeles'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 CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, CA ★ | $82,245 | 173 | $2,050 | — |
| San Francisco, CA | $101,736 | 214 | $3,498 | +23.7% |
| San Jose, CA | $94,129 | 198 | $2,195 | +14.4% |
| San Diego, CA | $77,490 | 163 | $2,195 | -5.8% |
| Riverside, CA | $57,999 | 122 | $1,750 | -29.5% |
| Sacramento, CA | $59,900 | 126 | $1,450 | -27.2% |
Welder Job Market in Los Angeles
Los Angeles has an estimated 3,056 annual Welderopenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 397,700 national Welders[1]. The 5.3% unemployment rate[3] is near the national average, with steady turnover across most sectors.
Top employers in Los Angeles
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 Los Angeles
Early-career Welders in Los Angeles start around $57,777, reach the city median ($82,245) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($118,006) at senior / specialized levels.
Related trades professions in Los Angeles
Calculators for Welders in Los Angeles
Other professions in Los Angeles
Frequently Asked Questions — Welder in Los Angeles
How much does a Welder make in Los Angeles, CA?
The estimated median salary for a Welder in Los Angeles is $82,245/year, scaled from the national median ($47,540) by Los Angeles's composite cost-of-living index of 173 (US = 100). After federal, California state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $62,734/year or $5,228/month.
Can a Welder afford to live in Los Angeles?
On $5,228/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,568/month. Los Angeles's Zillow ZORI median rent is $2,895/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $2,675/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 29.9%, making housing affordable for a Welder at the local median. Home-buyers face 10.5× price-to-income, needing roughly 10.5 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Welder pay in Los Angeles?
On $82,245 gross, a Welder in Los Angeles pays approximately $9,543 in federal income tax (11.6% effective), $3,676 in California state income tax (4.5% effective), and $6,292 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 23.7%. Some California cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Los Angeles rank for Welder salaries vs other cities?
Los Angeles ranks #7 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Welder salary, #108 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #277 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 Los Angeles?
On $62,734 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Los Angeles looks like: housing $24,600/yr (39.2%); food $10,825/yr; transportation $8,105/yr; healthcare $5,353/yr; utilities $4,282/yr; savings + discretionary $9,569/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Los Angeles's COL index of 173 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Welder job market like in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles's unemployment rate is 5.3% across the metro of 13,200,000. Estimated annual Welder openings: ~3,056 (extrapolated from 397,700 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The market is near national averages with steady turnover.
Do Los Angeles employers pay above or below the California median for Welders?
Yes — Los Angeles's estimated Welder median of $82,245 is 73.0% above the national median. Higher nominal pay in this city partially offsets the higher cost of living; the real picture depends on housing costs and state taxes.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Los Angeles median is derived from the California state-level BLS OEWS median ($53,338), scaled by Los Angeles's composite cost-of-living index of 173. 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 California'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 173index 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 = 112.2(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 2026-06-10.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- California Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
CalcFi does not sell data. If you spot an error, email hello@calcfi.app with the URL and the correct figure. We review reader corrections within 5 business days.
For personalized calculations, use the California Paycheck Calculator.