Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
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.
Also called: Assembly Line Brazer · Brazer · Fabrication Welder · Maintenance Welder · MIG Welder (Metal Inert Gas Welder) · Solderer
Median pay (national)
$51,000
$38,130–$75,850 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
424,040
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+2.2%
~45,600 openings/yr
Typical entry
High school diploma or equivalent
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers shows a broad range: the top 10% earn $75,850 versus $38,130 at the bottom 10% — 2.0x. The median of $51,000 leaves roughly 49% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +2.2% from 2024 to 2034 — about as fast as the 3% all-occupation average. Even so, BLS projects about 45,600 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 54 states with released data, Hawaii pays the most for this role (median $76,970, +51% vs the national median), while Puerto Rico sits lowest at $29,020 — a 165% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Active Listening as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
- Mathematics
- Learning Strategies
- Writing
- Science
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
- 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.
- Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter.
- Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
- Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
- Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
- Connect and turn regulator valves to activate and adjust gas flow and pressure so that desired flames are obtained.
- Position and secure workpieces, using hoists, cranes, wire, and banding machines or hand tools.
- Chip or grind off excess weld, slag, or spatter, using hand scrapers or power chippers, portable grinders, or arc-cutting equipment.
- Repair products by dismantling, straightening, reshaping, and reassembling parts, using cutting torches, straightening presses, and hand tools.
Tools & technology
- Microsoft Windows
- Oracle Database
- EZ Pipe
- Fred's Tip Cartridge Picker
- IBM Notes
- OmniFleet Equipment Maintenance Management
- Recordkeeping software
- Scientific Software Group Filter Drain FD
- Value Analysis
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
Knowledge areas
- Production and Processing
- Mechanical
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Design
- Engineering and Technology
- Education and Training
- Public Safety and Security