Welder apprenticeships in Worcester, MA-CT
Worcester, MA-CT is the 55th-most populous metro in the US. Here is what working as a welder looks like locally.
KEY FACTS — WORCESTER, MA-CT
Worcester: ~34 of 450 (~7.5%) · market pressure 47/100 — Moderate pressure.
Confidence: low. Annual labor earnings (W-2 wages + self-employment), not OEWS hourly-wage extrapolations.
Source: Census ACS 2024 5-year PUMS (state-rate projection onto metro OEWS employment).
Confidence: high. Log-normal fit residual is within tolerance.
Source: BLS OEWS.
Confidence: low. Composite of projected annual openings, projected growth, and current $100K+ earnings rate. Not a direct vacancy count.
Source: Projections Central data; score computed by Prentice.
Source: Census ACS 2022 5-year.
A framing, not a forecast. See methodology.
Numerator: ACS PUMS $100K+ annual earners.
Worcester, MA-CT is one of Massachusetts's largest labor markets for welders. It is the 55th-largest metro area in the United States by population. This page collects what adults switching into a career as a welder inside the Worcester metro need first: how local pay compares to the state, what the available labor-market data says about six-figure work, and which statewide programs and licensing rules apply locally.
Worcester, MA-CT welders earn a median of $58,560 (BLS OEWS Worcester MSA, May 2024). For Massachusetts context, statewide pay runs from $21/hr at entry to $34/hr at the state median and $52/hr at the experienced end. Statewide headline: $71K avg salary. The Worcester metro is smaller than the state's largest; local wages may run above or below the state median depending on sector mix.
In the Worcester metro, estimated six-figure welder jobs: ~8 of 450 (~1.8%). Confidence: high. Log-normal fit residual is within tolerance. ACS 2024 5-year PUMS estimates ~34 $100K+ annual earners (~7.5% of employed welders, ACS PUMS WAGP+SEMP). Projections Central long-term pressure score: 47/100 (Moderate, low confidence). Bachelor's-plus in the metro labor force: 249K (ACS 2022 5-year). For statewide context: Massachusetts shows ~79 of 3.1K (~2.6%). Sources: BLS OEWS, Census ACS PUMS, Projections Central, Census ACS.
Statewide welder programs and employer-sponsored paths are listed on the Massachusetts programs page; none are flagged as metro-exclusive. Metro program and association references are inherited from sourced state pages unless a metro-exclusive entity is explicitly sourced. Treat them as orientation, not a complete local inventory, and verify current intake details with the statewide source or sponsor before relying. Licensing is set at the state level: Massachusetts rules apply in the Worcester metro unless a local authority says otherwise. Metro pages use state-level licensing and program context unless a city, county, or sponsor rule is explicitly sourced. Verify current licensing, local add-ons, and sponsor requirements with the official state or local authority before relying. Expect a 60-90 minute drive radius for welder program sites that pull from the Worcester metro; rural applicants commonly enroll through the nearest larger MSA when local employer-sponsored slots are scarce.
WELDER PAY SNAPSHOT — WORCESTER, MA-CT
$58,560 (OEWS MSA-level median)
Source: BLS OEWS MSA cross-industry estimates. Where MSA-level data is suppressed or unpublished we fall back to the state median and label it explicitly.
Programs across Massachusetts
We list welder apprenticeships, schools, and locals statewide.
WELDER IN NEARBY METROS
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