Quick answer: Welders in California earn a median of $58,060 per year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). This page lists accredited welder schools in California with local wage data and median graduate earnings for each school.
Looking for welder schools in California? The programs below combine classroom instruction with hands-on practice. For context, the state median annual wage for this occupation is approximately $58,060 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Welder career guide: national overview of certifications, salary, and job outlook.
What You’ll Find Below
The school listings below are sorted by proximity to Programs. Each entry includes the school name, address, and the credentials offered. Use the California figures above as a reference point when comparing program length, schedule, and tuition.
How we rank schools – graduation rate, graduate earnings, cost and retention.
Advertising plays no part.
This page lists 12 schools
within 92 miles, closest group first, then ordered by
BOC Score with the highest at the top.
12 of them carry a score.
LOCAL RANK
Location / proximity to this page
Defines the local group
Graduation rate how often students finish
30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry whether it paid off
25%
Average net price what students actually pay after aid; lower ranks higher
20%
Retention rate how many come back for year two
15%
Fully online availability whether you can study while working
10%
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal
about the institution rather than about this subject.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from
this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Welder certificate programs in California typically take 6 to 12 months of full-time study, while associate degree programs generally run about 2 years. Many welders also enter the field through a registered apprenticeship, which combines paid on-the-job training with related classroom instruction and usually takes 3 to 5 years to complete. Actual completion time depends on schedule (full-time vs. part-time) and any prerequisite coursework.
How much do welders earn in California?
According to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), welders in California earned a median annual wage of approximately $58,060. Pay varies with experience, certification, and employer; the 10th to 90th percentile range was approximately $44,520 to $81,940 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
How many welder schools are in California?
The schools listed above are within about 800 miles of Programs. Compare them by tuition, program length, and the credential each one awards.
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
Data sources
Figures on this page are sourced from the federal and state datasets below. Methodology: how we rank and source data.
Data
Provider
Vintage
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
