What Does a Welder Do?
Welders join metal with heat, working from blueprints and weld symbols in fabrication shops, factories, shipyards, pipelines and construction sites. A production welder may run the same joint on a fixture all shift, while a structural or pipe welder lays root, hot and cap passes in flat, vertical and overhead positions, often from a lift or in a trench. Much of the day goes to prep and inspection rather than arc time: fitting and tacking parts, grinding bevels, cleaning off mill scale and slag, and checking finished welds for undercut, porosity and size.
Other Job Titles for This Work
Workers in this occupation report titles such as Assembly Line Brazer, Brazer, Fabrication Welder, Maintenance Welder, MIG Welder (Metal Inert Gas Welder), Solderer, TIG Welder (Tungsten Inert Gas Welder), Welder Fitter.
Welder Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a welder include:
- Read blueprints and weld symbols to find the joint type, weld size, process and welding procedure specification to follow.
- Fit and tack parts in jigs, fixtures or clamps, checking alignment with squares, angle finders and tape measures.
- Bevel and grind joint edges, then clean off rust, mill scale, paint and oil before striking an arc.
- Set amperage, voltage, wire feed speed and shielding gas flow for stick, MIG, flux-core or TIG work.
- Weld carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum and cast iron in flat, horizontal, vertical and overhead positions.
- Control heat input and weld sequence to keep thin or long parts from warping.
- Cut and shape metal with oxy-fuel torches, plasma cutters and air carbon arc gouging.
- Chip slag and grind spatter, then check welds visually and with fillet gauges for size, undercut and porosity.
- Mark finished pieces with job numbers and piece marks so fitters and erectors can identify them.
- Tell the shop lead about bad material, worn consumables or a failing machine before it affects quality.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a welder, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Proficiency in SMAW, GMAW, FCAW or GTAW, with each added process widening job options
- Passing welder qualification tests to AWS D1.1 for structural steel or ASME Section IX for pressure piping, as the employer requires
- Reading blueprints, weld symbols and welding procedure specifications
- Knowing how different metals and thicknesses respond to heat, filler choice and preheat
- Torch, plasma and grinder work for cutting, beveling and cleanup
- Steady hands and good eyesight under a hood, in awkward positions, for long stretches
- Safe practice with PPE, fume ventilation, hot work permits and confined spaces
- Talking through a bad fit-up with a fitter or inspector instead of welding over it
Education and Training
Many welders start with a high school diploma, the level about 54 percent of workers in this occupation report, and then take a welding program at a technical school or community college. Programs range from a few months for a single-process certificate to two-year associate's degrees, and most end with practice for qualification tests. Some workers learn in a shop under an experienced welder, and unions and large fabricators run apprenticeships, especially for pipe welding. Employers usually test you on their own procedure before you weld production parts, and qualifications must be kept current by welding regularly in that process.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: $46,790 - $63,010 per year, with a median of $53,750.
The range covers the middle half of earners nationwide. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers.
Welders remain in demand across manufacturing, construction, oil and gas, and infrastructure industries. Specialized certifications in pipeline, underwater, or aerospace welding can lead to significantly higher earnings.
Welder Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $39,240 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $46,790 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $53,750 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $63,010 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $77,530 |
Highest-Paying States for Welders
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are Alaska ($80,840), Hawaii ($79,000), Connecticut ($64,880), Wyoming ($63,820), Washington ($63,020). Pay is lowest in Georgia ($48,430), Tennessee ($48,040), Arkansas ($47,970).
Median pay in all 51 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $48,490 |
| Alaska | $80,840 |
| Arizona | $55,600 |
| Arkansas | $47,970 |
| California | $58,060 |
| Colorado | $58,590 |
| Connecticut | $64,880 |
| Delaware | $57,270 |
| District of Columbia | $60,180 |
| Florida | $50,640 |
| Georgia | $48,430 |
| Hawaii | $79,000 |
| Idaho | $50,530 |
| Illinois | $51,320 |
| Indiana | $49,730 |
| Iowa | $55,090 |
| Kansas | $49,410 |
| Kentucky | $51,470 |
| Louisiana | $62,250 |
| Maine | $62,220 |
| Maryland | $60,310 |
| Massachusetts | $62,570 |
| Michigan | $49,990 |
| Minnesota | $60,280 |
| Mississippi | $51,100 |
| Missouri | $51,950 |
| Montana | $55,610 |
| Nebraska | $52,220 |
| Nevada | $61,520 |
| New Hampshire | $62,360 |
| New Jersey | $59,440 |
| New Mexico | $59,840 |
| New York | $59,140 |
| North Carolina | $50,590 |
| North Dakota | $62,000 |
| Ohio | $50,340 |
| Oklahoma | $49,720 |
| Oregon | $59,450 |
| Pennsylvania | $52,900 |
| Rhode Island | $50,580 |
| South Carolina | $49,980 |
| South Dakota | $49,440 |
| Tennessee | $48,040 |
| Texas | $53,340 |
| Utah | $58,380 |
| Vermont | $60,890 |
| Virginia | $59,180 |
| Washington | $63,020 |
| West Virginia | $48,810 |
| Wisconsin | $58,410 |
| Wyoming | $63,820 |
What the Work Is Like
O*NET surveys people who work as welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:
- 91% use their hands on tools, objects or controls for more than half the day
- 87% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
- 86% wear safety gear such as gloves, safety glasses or a hard hat every day
- 72% work against deadlines every day
- 68% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
- 58% deal with loud or distracting noise every day
- 52% spend more than half the workday on their feet
Education Workers Say the Job Needs
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| High school diploma or GED | 54% |
| Less than high school | 21% |
| Post-secondary certificate | 12% |
| Some college | 11% |
Tools and Software Welders Use
Tools and equipment
Software
Is This Job a Good Fit for You?
People who do well in this job tend to enjoy hands-on work with tools, machines or the outdoors as well as organized work with data, records and clear procedures.
Skills O*NET rates most important: Quality Control Analysis, Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, Operations Monitoring, Time Management.
Knowledge areas used most: Production and Processing, Mechanical, Mathematics, English Language, Design.
Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 2 of 5, which means some preparation.
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
Applying for a Welder Job
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 51-4121.00 (Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers). View on O*NET OnLine.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.1 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 Job Explorer has modified some of the information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these changes.