Occupation · SOC 51-4121
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers Salary
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers earn a median of $53,750 a year in the United States, which is $25.84 an hour. The mean is $56,760, and 416,210 people are employed in the occupation.
Also searched as WeldWelder
The full pay range
A single average hides most of what a reader wants to know. BLS publishes the whole distribution, so here it is: each row is the annual salary at that point in the pay range for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers.
Annual salary by percentile May 2025
| Percentile | Annual salary | Typically |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $39,240 | entry level, or a lower-paying region |
| 25th percentile | $46,790 | early career |
| Median (50th) | $53,750 | half earn more, half earn less |
| 75th percentile | $63,010 | experienced |
| 90th percentile | $77,530 | top of the field |
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers salary by state
These are the 12 states that employ enough welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers for BLS to report a reliable figure, ordered by median pay. A state missing here either employs too few to publish or falls below the threshold this site uses.
Median pay by state May 2025
| State | Median | Hourly | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | $62,250 | $29.93 | 13,690 |
| Wisconsin | $58,410 | $28.08 | 15,320 |
| California | $58,060 | $27.91 | 26,060 |
| Texas | $53,340 | $25.64 | 52,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $52,900 | $25.43 | 17,850 |
| Illinois | $51,320 | $24.67 | 16,260 |
| Florida | $50,640 | $24.35 | 16,420 |
| Ohio | $50,340 | $24.20 | 20,330 |
| Michigan | $49,990 | $24.03 | 13,330 |
| Indiana | $49,730 | $23.91 | 13,280 |
| Georgia | $48,430 | $23.28 | 13,130 |
| Tennessee | $48,040 | $23.10 | 12,510 |
Common questions
How much do welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers make?
The median salary for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in the United States is $53,750 a year, which is $25.84 an hour. The mean is $56,760. Median and mean differ because a small number of very high earners pull the mean upward, so the median is the better answer to what the job typically pays.
What is the highest salary for a welders, cutters, solderers, and brazer?
The highest-paid 10 percent of welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers earn $77,530 or more. That is the highest figure the survey publishes for this occupation; there is no reported maximum, and individual earnings above it are not broken out.
How many people work as welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in the US?
416,210, as of the May 2025 release. That covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and excludes the self-employed, who are not surveyed.
How much do welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers make a month?
About $4,479 a month before tax, which is the published annual median of $53,750 divided by twelve. BLS publishes annual and hourly wages rather than monthly, so treat this as arithmetic on the annual figure, not a separate measurement.
Do welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers make $100,000 a year?
Rarely, on the published data. Even the best-paid 10 percent earn $77,530 or more against a median of $53,750, so a $100,000 figure usually involves overtime, self-employment (which this survey does not cover), or a move into a different role.
How much does a Weld make?
Weld is a common name for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers, classified by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics under SOC code 51-4121. The median salary is $53,750 a year, or $25.84 an hour. The same job is also called Welder.
Which state pays welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers the most?
Of the 12 states with enough welders, cutters, solderers, and brazer employment to report reliably, Louisiana has the highest median at $62,250, against a national median of $53,750. A higher median is not automatically more money in hand, because cost of living varies at least as much as pay does.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure above is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 release, for SOC code 51-4121. Nothing here is interpolated or averaged by this site. The survey covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and excludes the self-employed. See how to read these figures for what that means in practice.