Same construction, different money
Thorogood's American Heritage moc toe is union-made in Wisconsin with a Goodyear storm welt. Red Wing's Classic Moc is made in Minnesota with a Goodyear welt. Both are American, both are repairable, and there is a meaningful price gap between them.
A storm welt, for what it is worth, has a raised lip that sits against the upper to keep water out of the join. It is slightly better than a plain welt in the wet and slightly harder to resole cleanly. Neither difference should decide a purchase.
Where the money actually goes
Leather. Red Wing tans its own hides and the Oro Legacy on the Classic Moc is thicker and develops a deeper patina. Thorogood's full-grain is good and it is not that. Over five years the Red Wing looks better; over one year they look similar.
The repair path. Red Wing's own stores resole with original parts and the company runs its own repair shop. Thorogood is welted, so any cobbler can do the job, but there is no factory route we could find published.
Resale. Red Wing Heritage boots hold value on the second-hand market in a way Thorogood does not. If you buy and sell gear, that narrows the real price gap considerably.
Where Thorogood simply wins
A steel toe. Red Wing's Heritage line has no safety option, so if your site requires one, the comparison ends here and Thorogood is the answer. The American Heritage safety moc toe is the cheapest genuinely resoleable steel-toe boot we found.
The MAXwear wedge is also harder-wearing than Red Wing's crepe, which is softer underfoot and wears noticeably faster - particularly on abrasive concrete.
The honest verdict
For most working buyers, Thorogood. It is American, welted, available with a safety toe, and it leaves enough change for a resole and a year of socks. The leather is a step down and that step costs you less than the price difference.
Red Wing earns the premium if you want the better hide, the factory repair route and the resale value - and if the boot is as much a thing you own as a thing you work in. That is a legitimate reason to spend the money. It is just not a durability reason.
