Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$53,750

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$46,790 – $63,010

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

416,210

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+2.4%

Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)

Openings a year (projected)

40,300

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand-soldering, or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.

Main tasks

• Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
• Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
• Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
• Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
• Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment.
• Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals.
• Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
• Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training

O*NET Job Zone 1–2

Little to some preparation

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 2 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

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