Welder apprenticeships in Athens-Clarke County, GA
Athens-Clarke County, GA is a smaller U.S. metro. Here is what working as a welder looks like locally.
KEY FACTS — ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GA
Athens-Clarke County: ~25 of 470 (~5.4%) · market pressure 65/100 — High 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).
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.
Athens-Clarke County, GA is one of Georgia's labor markets for welders. This page collects what adults switching into a career as a welder inside the Athens-Clarke County 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.
Athens-Clarke County, GA welders earn a median of $49,440 (BLS OEWS Athens-Clarke County MSA, May 2024). For Georgia context, statewide pay runs from $16/hr at entry to $26/hr at the state median and $40/hr at the experienced end. Statewide headline: $54K avg salary. The Athens-Clarke County metro is a smaller U.S. MSA; local wages may run above or below the state median depending on sector mix.
Metro-level six-figure welder counts for the Athens-Clarke County metro are not yet published; the estimate is suppressed or pending ingestion. ACS 2024 5-year PUMS estimates ~25 $100K+ annual earners (~5.4% of employed welders, ACS PUMS WAGP+SEMP). Projections Central long-term pressure score: 65/100 (High, low confidence). Bachelor's-plus in the metro labor force: 56K (ACS 2022 5-year). For statewide context: Georgia shows ~7 of 14K (~0%). Sources: BLS OEWS, Census ACS PUMS, Projections Central, Census ACS.
Statewide welder programs and employer-sponsored paths are listed on the Georgia 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: Georgia rules apply in the Athens-Clarke County 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. Smaller MSAs like the Athens-Clarke County metro often source welder apprentices from a 60-mile radius into the nearest larger urban center; check with the state programs page for the closest active intake.
Union apprenticeship programs in Athens-Clarke County, GA
Verified welder union locals with public-facing city, jurisdiction, training, and official-site details.
Local Lodge 26
Jurisdiction:Appling, Bacon, Baldwin, Banks, Barrow + 104 more counties (GA)
Training:Southeastern Area Joint Apprenticeship Committee / Boilermakers National Apprenticeship Program (Ruskin, FL)
Official site →Iron Workers Local Union No. 387
Jurisdiction:Oconee, Anderson, Abbeville, McCormick, Pickens counties (GA/AL/SC)
Training:Atlanta Iron Workers Local 387 Apprenticeship Office (Atlanta, GA)
Official site →Iron Workers Local 846
Jurisdiction:Adams, Lowndes, Tunica, Tippah, Yazoo + 77 more counties (AL/FL/GA/KY/LA/MS/NC/SC/TN/VA)
Training:Iron Workers Local 846 Apprenticeship and Journeyman Training (Aiken, SC)
Official site →UA Local Union 72 Plumbers, Pipefitters & HVACR Technicians
Jurisdiction:Atlanta and outlying areas of Georgia; Local 72 states it provides pipefitters throughout the state of Georgia.
Training:Mechanical Trades Institute - Local 72 Training Center (Atlanta, GA)
Official site →Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 177
Jurisdiction:Local 177 covers 13 counties in the State of Georgia: Glynn, McIntosh, Camden, Wayne, Appling, Jeff Davis, Bacon, Pierce, Brantley, Ware, Charlton, Clinch, and Echols.
Training:UA Local 177 Training Facility (Brunswick, GA)
Official site →Verified-source check recorded in the union dataset; this data snapshot does not carry per-local verification dates.
Street addresses, phone numbers, and emails stay out of the page source. Open the free directory for addresses & phone numbers .
WELDER PAY SNAPSHOT — ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GA
$49,440 (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 Georgia
We list welder apprenticeships, schools, and locals statewide.
WELDER IN NEARBY METROS
Get Welder updates for Athens-Clarke County, GA
We will send new Athens-Clarke County, GA-area pages, related content, and deeper guide updates for this trade.
READ THE SWITCH BRIEF
Step back from the encyclopedia view and look at the adult trade-switch decision page first.
GET THE WELDER GUIDE — $9
Use the national decision guide for earnings, lifestyle, and union vs. non-union fit. It is not a Athens-Clarke County, GA or Georgia-specific paid guide.