Pay · 51-4122
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders earn $47,920 a year at the midpoint
Across roughly 31,600 people in this work, the midpoint is $47,920 a year, with most starting near $40,560.
National figures for welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders, 51-4122, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- The annual figure is arithmetic. For hourly occupations the annual figure is the hourly rate times 2080 hours. It is a calculation, not observed earnings: part time is the norm in retail and food service.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine operator earnings, from starting pay to the best-paid 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
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Ranked 570 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 28% of the occupations in the survey.
- 568 Fence Erectors $47,980
- 569 Cooks, Private Household $47,940
- 570 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders $47,920
- 571 Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics $47,880
- 572 Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairers $47,810
Resumes for welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications.
- Inspected, measured, or tested completed metal workpieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using measuring and testing devices.
- Recorded operational information on specified production reports.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine operator pay rate, hourly and yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine operator wages by state
The 36 states where the most people do this work, of 44 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.88 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $70,150 | $46,390 | $46,390 — $96,720 | 280 |
| Illinois | $58,840 | $43,830 | $43,830 — $92,680 | 180 |
| Oregon | $58,650 | $44,510 | $44,510 — $81,200 | 250 |
| Wisconsin | $57,640 | $44,370 | $44,370 — $67,730 | 1,150 |
| Minnesota | $57,560 | $44,640 | $44,640 — $76,880 | 670 |
| Nebraska | $57,280 | $48,210 | $48,210 — $66,540 | 650 |
| Missouri | $56,210 | $40,440 | $40,440 — $71,090 | 560 |
| New Jersey | $53,680 | $36,620 | $36,620 — $64,860 | 510 |
| South Dakota | $52,520 | $43,620 | $43,620 — $61,370 | 150 |
| New York | $52,080 | $40,660 | $40,660 — $77,140 | 740 |
| Iowa | $51,740 | $42,950 | $42,950 — $62,330 | 1,310 |
| Texas | $51,310 | $35,970 | $35,970 — $72,440 | 1,750 |
| Kentucky | $50,740 | $39,410 | $39,410 — $66,850 | 1,000 |
| Massachusetts | $50,480 | $38,580 | $38,580 — $66,630 | 480 |
| Rhode Island | $50,040 | $41,260 | $41,260 — $65,800 | 160 |
| Virginia | $49,160 | $37,470 | $37,470 — $62,510 | 410 |
| California | $48,940 | $40,130 | $40,130 — $69,760 | 2,290 |
| Louisiana | $48,740 | $31,050 | $31,050 — $81,810 | 320 |
| Ohio | $48,190 | $37,710 | $37,710 — $68,880 | 2,190 |
| Connecticut | $47,900 | $37,680 | $37,680 — $76,260 | 590 |
| Nevada | $47,870 | $33,830 | $33,830 — $77,690 | 170 |
| North Carolina | $47,580 | $36,600 | $36,600 — $65,680 | 820 |
| Pennsylvania | $47,530 | $37,940 | $37,940 — $63,100 | 1,120 |
| New Hampshire | $47,500 | $40,080 | $40,080 — $60,700 | 290 |
| Tennessee | $47,180 | $35,400 | $35,400 — $54,080 | 1,950 |
| Maryland | $47,110 | $36,080 | $36,080 — $65,130 | 430 |
| Arkansas | $46,880 | $35,720 | $35,720 — $59,530 | 210 |
| Kansas | $46,710 | $38,060 | $38,060 — $67,370 | 160 |
| South Carolina | $46,260 | $36,180 | $36,180 — $69,770 | 340 |
| Georgia | $45,850 | $36,770 | $36,770 — $59,310 | 840 |
| Indiana | $43,960 | $36,910 | $36,910 — $62,400 | 2,840 |
| Michigan | $42,530 | $35,480 | $35,480 — $55,830 | 3,150 |
| Florida | $41,420 | $36,870 | $36,870 — $56,380 | 740 |
| Oklahoma | $40,400 | $36,590 | $36,590 — $51,590 | 460 |
| Alabama | $40,050 | $30,230 | $30,230 — $60,410 | 1,250 |
| Mississippi | $37,390 | $33,470 | $33,470 — $57,820 | 480 |
Questions people ask most
What is a welding, soldering, and brazing machine operator’s yearly income?
A welding, soldering, and brazing machine operator makes a median of $47,920 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $40,560 and $57,390.
What is a welding, soldering, and brazing machine operator’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $23.04 an hour; the average is $50,220 a year.
What is the starting pay for a welding, soldering, and brazing machine operator?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $40,560 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $36,860.
Which state pays welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders the most?
Arizona, with a median of $70,150 a year.
How many people work as welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders?
About 31,600 in the United States — number 570 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays about the same
Median pay within $150 of what welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders earn — $47,920 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $110 more Medical Appliance Technicians $48,030median a year 10th percentile: $36,510 90th percentile: $75,740
- $120 more Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders $48,040median a year 10th percentile: $35,960 90th percentile: $69,800
- $150 more Dental assistants $48,070median a year 10th percentile: $37,130 90th percentile: $62,250