Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

51-4121 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.

National estimates for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
Industry profile for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
Geographic profile for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

National estimates for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
397,550	0.9 %	$ 22.45	$ 46,690	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 14.73	$ 17.37	$ 21.25	$ 25.88	$ 31.85
Annual Wage (2)	$ 30,640	$ 36,140	$ 44,190	$ 53,820	$ 66,250

Industry profile for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)	68,560	14.48	$ 21.05	$ 43,780
Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)	58,760	8.17	$ 21.45	$ 44,610
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)	22,610	5.00	$ 20.85	$ 43,370
Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing	21,420	14.57	$ 19.80	$ 41,180
Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors	14,910	1.61	$ 23.81	$ 49,520

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing	3,450	15.99	$ 22.68	$ 47,170
Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing	21,420	14.57	$ 19.80	$ 41,180
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)	68,560	14.48	$ 21.05	$ 43,780
Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing	3,040	9.43	$ 23.50	$ 48,880
Ship and Boat Building	12,550	9.15	$ 25.35	$ 52,720

Top paying industries for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Scheduled Air Transportation	60	0.01	$ 44.34	$ 92,230
Natural Gas Distribution	750	0.70	$ 38.31	$ 79,680
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution	1,150	0.30	$ 37.32	$ 77,620
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	700	0.64	$ 35.37	$ 73,570
Other Pipeline Transportation	30	0.37	$ 33.09	$ 68,840

Geographic profile for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Texas	48,940	4.04	1.41	$ 23.11	$ 48,070
California	30,050	1.83	0.64	$ 23.62	$ 49,130
Pennsylvania	17,700	3.21	1.12	$ 22.54	$ 46,870
Ohio	16,840	3.28	1.15	$ 20.97	$ 43,610
Wisconsin	16,280	6.01	2.10	$ 22.95	$ 47,740

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Wyoming	1,910	7.28	2.55	$ 28.75	$ 59,800
South Dakota	2,770	6.73	2.36	$ 19.65	$ 40,870
Oklahoma	10,420	6.67	2.33	$ 21.65	$ 45,040
Louisiana	11,840	6.58	2.30	$ 26.88	$ 55,920
Wisconsin	16,280	6.01	2.10	$ 22.95	$ 47,740

Top paying states for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska	530	1.79	0.63	$ 34.55	$ 71,860
Hawaii	540	0.95	0.33	$ 31.56	$ 65,650
District of Columbia	130	0.19	0.07	$ 30.90	$ 64,270
Wyoming	1,910	7.28	2.55	$ 28.75	$ 59,800
North Dakota	2,390	5.98	2.09	$ 27.56	$ 57,320

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	18,090	6.09	2.13	$ 24.64	$ 51,260
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	9,940	1.71	0.60	$ 21.78	$ 45,300
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	9,050	2.52	0.88	$ 20.95	$ 43,570
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	7,710	1.77	0.62	$ 22.23	$ 46,240
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	6,000	0.68	0.24	$ 26.60	$ 55,330
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	5,620	2.13	0.75	$ 20.22	$ 42,060
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	4,790	2.59	0.91	$ 24.33	$ 50,610
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	4,540	5.65	1.98	$ 24.78	$ 51,540
Tulsa, OK	4,430	10.35	3.62	$ 22.31	$ 46,390
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	4,310	2.42	0.85	$ 21.34	$ 44,390

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Elkhart-Goshen, IN	2,390	18.95	6.63	$ 19.31	$ 40,160
Erie, PA	2,050	17.97	6.29	$ 22.07	$ 45,900
Houma-Thibodaux, LA	1,450	17.75	6.21	$ 23.61	$ 49,120
Casper, WY	580	15.76	5.51	$ 28.14	$ 58,540
Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS	2,050	14.50	5.07	$ 26.50	$ 55,120
Lafayette, LA	2,390	12.63	4.42	$ 22.95	$ 47,740
Odessa, TX	910	12.30	4.30	$ 28.87	$ 60,050
Farmington, NM	520	12.02	4.20	$ 30.90	$ 64,260
Wausau, WI	820	11.95	4.18	$ 22.54	$ 46,880
Texarkana, TX-AR	590	10.89	3.81	$ 18.77	$ 39,040