It's actually even worse than this. I'm on the fringes of a community that does a lot of metal art, so I know a few welders who make good (but not great) money

It's actually even worse than this. I'm on the fringes of a community that does a lot of metal art, so I know a few welders who make good (but not great) money doing welding. But they all are artists, and they all have college degrees, and couldn't attract the art contracts they do without their college pedigree. It's disingenuous to say "Welding makes good money" and "Welding doesn't require a college degree" in the same breath, because many of the higher-income welders actually do have college degrees which increase their income, which skews the statistics. There are three people I know who weld but don't make much money. One makes most of her money on banking software, and the other two don't have degrees.