Welding cost calculator
Down to the inch, by process. Pick a tab, enter the weld, see labor, filler, gas, and sell price update in real time. When you are happy with the number, save it as a Bead Board quote and start tracking estimated vs actual hours from day one.
Updated September 2026
Quick answer
A 1/4-inch MIG fillet at $85/hr with 25% markup sells for about $1.02 per inch ($12.24 per foot) at the calculator's defaults. At the same settings a 3/16-inch fillet runs $0.57 per inch and a 3/8-inch runs $2.29. Labor is 92% of the cost and 74% of the sell price. Use the calculator below for your exact setup.
Welding cost per inch by process
Same 1/4-inch fillet, very different cost depending on how fast the process deposits metal. Each page below walks the per-inch math for that process with a worked example you can check against your own rate.
MIG (GMAW) cost per inch
4 lb/hr on .035 wire, 95% efficient. Cheap per inch on production work.
Flux-core (FCAW) cost per inch
Up to 14 lb/hr on 1/16" wire. The heavy-plate and outdoor workhorse.
Stick (SMAW) cost per inch
E7018 at 2.2 lb/hr and 62% efficient. Slow in the shop; wins on field and dirty stock.
TIG (GTAW) cost per inch
The most expensive per inch. Price the slow hours honestly.
How welding cost actually breaks down
Welding cost has three big buckets and one small one: labor, filler, shielding gas, and power. ESAB's Quick Weld Productivity Analyzer structures it the same way and so does Lincoln's Procedure Handbook. The formula is simple. What kills estimates is which numbers you feed it.
Labor is the biggest line on almost every weld job. In the worked example below, labor is 92% of total cost, filler 5%, and gas 3%. Power is usually under 5% and most shops ignore it. That means the two numbers you have to get right are deposition rate and operating factor. Those are the hidden multipliers that destroy otherwise-clean math.
Worked example: 12 inches of 1/4-inch fillet in mild steel
Process notes: where each one wins and loses
MIG / GMAW
The shop default for clean steel. .035 solid wire at about 150 A runs around 4 lb/hr, and more amps lays down more; .045 in spray transfer hits 8 lb/hr on flat and horizontal work. 95% efficient. Gas dependency is the downside. Wind kills it.
Flux-Core / FCAW
The workhorse for outdoor structural and thick-plate work. 0.045" runs 8 lb/hr, 0.052" runs 11 lb/hr, 1/16" runs 14 lb/hr. Gas-shielded is 86% efficient, self-shielded is 78%. At the same .045 size, gas-shielded flux-core and spray-transfer solid wire deposit about the same; flux-core's edge is holding that rate out of position and on dirtier steel. Cleanup takes longer because of slag.
Stick / SMAW
Slowest common process. 1/8" E7018 runs 2.2 lb/hr. 62% efficient, with stubs eating most of the rest. The win is setup time and portability. No gas, no feeder, works on dirty stock. On short welds in the field it often comes out cheaper once you count the setup MIG needs.
TIG / GTAW
Expensive per inch but nothing else finishes like it. Deposition depends on the welder. The 1.5 lb/hr default is on the optimistic side; plenty of hand TIG, and most thin sheet, runs under 1 lb/hr. Set it to what your welders actually do. Rod is 98% efficient. Use this tab for aluminum, stainless, and any job where appearance or code compliance pays for the extra hours.
Need amperage and voltage settings? See the welding settings chart for starting parameters by process and thickness. For wire and shielding gas selection, see the wire & gas guide.
Cost per inch is one line of the bid. The whole method is in how to quote welding jobs, and the free welding quote template gets the finished number on paper.
Questions welders keep asking about weld cost
How much does welding cost per inch?
For a 1/4-inch mild steel fillet weld in MIG at the calculator's defaults (4 lb/hr deposition, 30% operating factor, $85/hr shop rate, 25% markup) the sell price lands at $1.02 per inch of weld, or $12.24 per foot. Change any of those inputs and the number moves a lot. The calculator shows exactly which line is driving it.
What is the difference between deposition rate and deposition efficiency?
Deposition rate is how many pounds of filler the arc lays down per hour. Deposition efficiency is how much of what you purchase actually ends up in the weld. The rest becomes stubs, spatter, or slag. These are separate numbers and conflating them is the most common welding cost bug. Solid MIG wire is about 95% efficient. E7018 stick runs 62%. E6010 is 55%. Gas-shielded flux-core is 86% and self-shielded is 78%. TIG rod is 98%.
What operating factor should I use?
Operating factor is the fraction of your clocked time that the arc is actually on. Miller puts the industry average at about 20%. A well-run small shop on production MIG hits 25–30%. The calculator starts stick at 25% and TIG at 20%. Field and mobile welding is often 15% or less because of setup and travel. If you do not know yours, start at 25% and measure for a week.
Why is there no overhead field on this calculator?
Because overhead belongs in your shop rate, not the weld cost. Your shop rate already rolls up rent, insurance, consumables, and admin. That is the whole point of calculating it. If you also line-item overhead here, you double-count and overprice every quote. Use the shop rate tool to set a rate that has overhead baked in, then bring that number here.
MIG vs stick: which one is cheaper?
MIG is almost always cheaper per inch on thicker material and longer welds because the deposition rate is higher (4–8 lb/hr for MIG vs 2.2 lb/hr for 1/8" E7018) and the efficiency is better (95% vs 62%). Stick wins on short welds outdoors, on rusty or dirty stock, and when you are already on the jobsite with a stinger. For in-shop production work, MIG or flux-core wins by a wide margin.
What is a fair markup on welding jobs?
25–40% over total cost is typical for custom fab work. Production repeat jobs can run lower (15–25%) because the risk is lower and the customer knows what they should pay. Emergency or mobile work runs higher (40–100%) because of the premium service. The calculator defaults to 25%. Pick your own number based on what your market actually pays.
How do I estimate a groove weld versus a fillet weld?
Fillet weld deposited weight comes from the leg size squared, divided by two, times a 1.2 convexity allowance. Groove welds use the plate thickness and root gap: pick square groove for a plain gap, or single-V to add both bevels at the included angle plus a 1/16" crown. The cross-section is the whole finished weld from root to cap, so do not split it into passes or multiply by the pass count. The deposition rate already sets how long it takes to fill.
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Formula structure mirrors ESAB Quick Weld Productivity Analyzer. Fillet cross-section formula from TWI Job Knowledge 95. Deposition rate defaults from Lincoln GMAW Guide, Welding Answers, and ESAB Dual Shield datasheets. Operating factor ranges from Miller and TWI. Other Tack Box tools.