Best Welder programs in Virginia, ranked by enrollment
Use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand-soldering, or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal.
20 schools in Virginia run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,085 people a year. The job pays a median of $59,180 in Virginia across about 10,100 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Virginia that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Virginia that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Virginia (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 Virginia page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 48.0508In Virginia → | 1,085 | 100.0% | 20 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
Top 20 schools in Virginia
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 20 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tidewater Tech - Trades Norfolk, VA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 257 | Welding Technology/Welder | $32,269 | 71% | $25,765 | — |
| 2 | Central Virginia Community College Lynchburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 101 | Welding Technology/Welder | $37,281 | 45% | — | — |
| 3 | Tidewater Community College Norfolk, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 83 | Welding Technology/Welder | $23,785 | 32% | — | — |
| 4 | Southside Virginia Community College Alberta, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 73 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 42% | — | — |
| 5 | Advanced Technology Institute Virginia Beach, VA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 71 | Welding Technology/Welder | $43,656 | 79% | $19,848 | 54% |
| 6 | New River Community College Dublin, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 67 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 50% | — | — |
| 7 | Patrick & Henry Community College Martinsville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Welding Technology/Welder | $37,030 | 42% | — | — |
| 8 | Brightpoint Community College Chester, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 58 | Welding Technology/Welder | $39,273 | 38% | — | — |
| 9 | Mountain Empire Community College Big Stone Gap, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 48% | — | — |
| 10 | Danville Community College Danville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 39% | — | — |
| 11 | Southwest Virginia Community College Cedar Bluff, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 46% | — | — |
| 12 | Virginia Highlands Community College Abingdon, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Welding Technology/Welder | $21,472 | 40% | — | — |
| 13 | Virginia Western Community College Roanoke, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Welding Technology/Welder | $22,788 | 40% | — | — |
| 14 | Centura College - Newport News Newport News, VA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 75% | $27,110 | — |
| 15 | Eastern Shore Community College Melfa, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 41% | — | — |
| 16 | Wytheville Community College Wytheville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 47% | — | — |
| 17 | Mountain Gateway Community College Clifton Forge, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 38% | — | — |
| 18 | Northern Virginia Community College Annandale, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 33% | — | — |
| 19 | J Sargeant Reynolds Community College Richmond, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 32% | — | — |
| 20 | Paul D Camp Community College Franklin, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Welding Technology/Welder | — | 36% | — | — |
All 20 schools in Virginia
Every school in Virginia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tidewater Tech - Trades | Norfolk | Private for-profit | 257 | 1 |
| Central Virginia Community College | Lynchburg | Public | 101 | 1 |
| Tidewater Community College | Norfolk | Public | 83 | 1 |
| Southside Virginia Community College | Alberta | Public | 73 | 1 |
| Advanced Technology Institute | Virginia Beach | Private for-profit | 71 | 1 |
| New River Community College | Dublin | Public | 67 | 1 |
| Patrick & Henry Community College | Martinsville | Public | 61 | 1 |
| Brightpoint Community College | Chester | Public | 58 | 1 |
| Mountain Empire Community College | Big Stone Gap | Public | 55 | 1 |
| Danville Community College | Danville | Public | 46 | 1 |
| Southwest Virginia Community College | Cedar Bluff | Public | 45 | 1 |
| Virginia Highlands Community College | Abingdon | Public | 35 | 1 |
| Virginia Western Community College | Roanoke | Public | 33 | 1 |
| Centura College - Newport News | Newport News | Private for-profit | 27 | 1 |
| Eastern Shore Community College | Melfa | Public | 21 | 1 |
What welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers earn in Virginia
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $53,750. Virginia pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Virginia
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 Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers page.
How to become a Welder
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 Virginia
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 15.0614Welding Engineering Technology/Technician
- 48.0508Welding Technology/Welder
Common questions
Answers for people weighing welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers programs in Virginia.
What degree do you need to become a Welder?+
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 1,085 degrees in Virginia in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Welder?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Metal Working. Together they graduate about 1,085 people a year in Virginia.
How much do welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers earn in Virginia?+
The median is $59,180 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 10.1% above the U.S. median of $53,750. 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 welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers growing?+
BLS projects a +2.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 45,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Virginia?+
20 institutions in Virginia 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 welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Wirer, Brazer, Welder, Solderer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-4121.
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
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