Best Welding programs in Ohio, ranked by enrollment
Set up, operate, or tend welding, soldering, or brazing machines or robots that weld, braze, solder, or heat treat metal products, components, or assemblies.
54 schools in Ohio run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,345 people a year. The job pays a median of $48,190 in Ohio across about 2,190 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Ohio that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Ohio that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Ohio (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Ohio page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 48.0508In Ohio → | 1,345 | 100.0% | 54 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
Top 25 schools in Ohio
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 13 of the 54 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hobart Institute of Welding Technology Troy, OH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 290 | Welding Technology/Welder | $45,370 | 90% | $20,935 | — |
| 2 | Lorain County Community College Elyria, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 103 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 31% | — | — |
| 3 | Owens Community College Perrysburg, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 98 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 35% | — | — |
| 4 | Ohio Technical College Cleveland, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 68 | Welding Technology/Welder | $32,154 | 90% | $28,679 | — |
| 5 | Elite Welding Academy LLC Cincinnati, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 66 | Welding Technology/Welder | $38,717 | 89% | $30,201 | — |
| 6 | Belmont College St Clairsville, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 58 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 43% | — | — |
| 7 | Pioneer Career and Technology Center Shelby, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Remington College - Cleveland Campus Cleveland, OH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 55% | $23,910 | — |
| 9 | Apollo Career Center Lima, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 59% | — | — |
| 10 | ETI Technical College of Niles Niles, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Welding Technology/Welder | $27,290 | 63% | $14,389 | — |
| 11 | Lorain County Joint Vocational School District Oberlin, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 90% | — | — |
| 12 | Fortis College - Cuyahoga Falls Cuyahoga Falls, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Welding Technology/Welder | $39,990 | 47% | $27,723 | — |
| 13 | Elite Welding Academy South Point South Point, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Welding Technology/Welder | $38,717 | 71% | $30,807 | — |
| 14 | Brown & Clermont Adult Career Campuses Bethel, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 84% | — | — |
| 15 | Hocking College Nelsonville, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 37% | — | — |
| 16 | Polaris Career Center Middleburg Heights, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Welding Technology/Welder | $32,228 | 77% | — | — |
| 17 | Ashtabula County Technical and Career Campus Jefferson, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 58% | — | — |
| 18 | Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Cincinnati, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 16% | — | — |
| 19 | Wayne County Schools Career Center Smithville, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 70% | — | — |
| 20 | Auburn Career Center Concord Twp, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 69% | — | — |
| 21 | Great Oaks Career Campuses Cincinnati, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Welding Technology/Welder | $41,277 | 90% | — | — |
| 22 | Eastland - Fairfield Career and Technical Schools Groveport, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Welding Technology/Welder | $39,328 | 81% | — | — |
| 23 | Mid - EastCTC - Adult Education Zanesville, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 72% | — | — |
| 24 | Fortis College - Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Welding Technology/Welder | $31,899 | 50% | $26,155 | — |
| 25 | Portage Lakes Career Center Uniontown, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 69% | — | — |
All 54 schools in Ohio
Every school in Ohio with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart Institute of Welding Technology | Troy | Private not-for-profit | 290 | 1 |
| Lorain County Community College | Elyria | Public | 103 | 1 |
| Owens Community College | Perrysburg | Public | 98 | 1 |
| Ohio Technical College | Cleveland | Private for-profit | 68 | 1 |
| Elite Welding Academy LLC | Cincinnati | Private for-profit | 66 | 1 |
| Belmont College | St Clairsville | Public | 58 | 1 |
| Pioneer Career and Technology Center | Shelby | Public | 50 | 1 |
| Remington College - Cleveland Campus | Cleveland | Private not-for-profit | 31 | 1 |
| Apollo Career Center | Lima | Public | 28 | 1 |
| ETI Technical College of Niles | Niles | Private for-profit | 27 | 1 |
| Lorain County Joint Vocational School District | Oberlin | Public | 27 | 1 |
| Fortis College - Cuyahoga Falls | Cuyahoga Falls | Private for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| Elite Welding Academy South Point | South Point | Private for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| Brown & Clermont Adult Career Campuses | Bethel | Public | 23 | 1 |
| Hocking College | Nelsonville | Public | 22 | 1 |
What welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders earn in Ohio
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $47,920. Ohio pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Ohio employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Ohio
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders page.
How to become a Welding
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Ohio
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 48.0508Welding Technology/Welder
Common questions
Answers for people weighing welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders programs in Ohio.
What degree do you need to become a Welding?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Welding Technology/Welder, which awarded 1,345 degrees in Ohio in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Welding?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Metal Working. Together they graduate about 1,345 people a year in Ohio.
How much do welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders earn in Ohio?+
The median is $48,190 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.6% above the U.S. median of $47,920. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders growing?+
BLS projects a -9.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 3,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Ohio?+
54 institutions in Ohio reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Fabricator, Mig Welder, Spot Welder, Machine Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-4122.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card