Pipeline welder.
6G + API 1104 + per diem. Cross-country, gathering lines, refinery turnarounds.
Pipeline welding is the highest-paid hands-on welding work in the U.S. for a reason: the certs are hard, the position is unforgiving, and the work is mobile. If you've got API 1104 and a 6G ticket, you're not "looking for a job" — you're picking which spread to roll out with.
Most pipeline work is per-diem. Pay rates of $50–$80/hr are normal on cross-country spreads. Add per diem ($120–$180/day) and lodging, and a 60-hour week clears $4,500–$6,000 gross. The catch is the lifestyle — 8-week hitches, hotel rooms, weather, and a torch that knows when you're lying about your X-rays.
The work clusters in five regions. The Permian Basin (West Texas, southeast New Mexico) is the busiest gas/oil play and the home of most active pipefitting recruiters. The Bakken (North Dakota) and the Marcellus (Pennsylvania, West Virginia) drive winter and summer work respectively. The Gulf Coast (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi) keeps refinery turnaround crews swinging year-round. And the cross-country spreads — driven by FERC pipeline approvals — light up wherever a 30"+ line is being laid.
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