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Role hub · Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

Welder: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

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Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of welders earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$53,750
Hourly
$25.84
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Welders 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. The median pay is $53,750 a year ($25.84 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a high school diploma or equivalent (54% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$53,750
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
416,210
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 2 of 5
some preparation
Most common education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
54% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers (O*NET-SOC 51-4121.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Explore the role

Every page for Welders

SalaryWelder salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeWelder how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →ResumeWelder resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Career changeWelder career change

Where these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What welders do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
  2. Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
  3. Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
  4. Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
  5. 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.
  6. Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals.
  7. Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
  8. Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Quality Control AnalysiscoreMonitoringcoreJudgment and Decision MakingcoreCritical ThinkingOperations MonitoringTime ManagementOperation and ControlActive ListeningSpeaking

Knowledge areas: Production and Processing, Mechanical.

Tools and technology

Software welders use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • EZ PipeComputer aided design CAD software
  • Fred's Tip Cartridge PickerAnalytical or scientific software
  • Scientific Software Group Filter Drain FDAnalytical or scientific software
  • Value AnalysisAnalytical or scientific software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WindowsOperating system softwareHot technology
  • Oracle DatabaseData base user interface and query softwareHot technology
  • IBM NotesElectronic mail software
  • OmniFleet Equipment Maintenance ManagementCalendar and scheduling software
  • Recordkeeping softwareData base user interface and query software

Also called: Assembly Line Brazer, Brazer, Fabrication Welder, Maintenance Welder, MIG Welder (Metal Inert Gas Welder), Solderer.

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Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).