Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers Average Salary in Pennsylvania
$56,300 average · $56,300 median · BLS OEWS 2025
SOC Code: 51-4121What is this?
This page shows employer-reported wages for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers in Pennsylvania, drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey — median and mean pay, the full percentile distribution, and the industries that employ this occupation locally. Skill intensity of the process drives the spread: CNC machining, welding specialties, and process-control roles in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and energy pay far above routine assembly. Shift premiums add real money to the figures shown here for the many production workers on nights and rotations. Union density and regional manufacturing mix explain most of the state differences.
How much do Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers make in Pennsylvania?
The average welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers salary in Pennsylvania is $56,300 per year. That works out to about $27.07 per hour on average. BLS counts roughly 17,850 welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers jobs in Pennsylvania.
Mean and median are close, so pay is relatively concentrated around $56,300. Entry-level roles (10th percentile) report about $56,300; experienced workers at the 90th percentile report about $56,300 — a 0% spread from bottom to top. Figures are employer-reported wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — not self-reported survey averages — so they are the right baseline for offers, raises, and relocation decisions in this market.
How Production Careers Are Structured
Production wages tell the story of American manufacturing in miniature: a smaller workforce than a generation ago, but more skilled and better paid where advanced manufacturing has replaced routine assembly. The occupation-level differences within this group — assembler versus machinist versus process technician — matter more than the group average.
The wage tables and percentile chart on this page show how welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers pay is distributed in Pennsylvania specifically — and because state-level wages for the same occupation routinely differ by 30% or more, the local figures here are the ones that matter for offers, raises, and relocation decisions in this market.
What Moves Pay in This Field
Skill intensity of the process drives the spread: CNC machining, welding specialties, and process-control roles in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and energy pay far above routine assembly. Shift premiums add real money to the figures shown here for the many production workers on nights and rotations. Union density and regional manufacturing mix explain most of the state differences.
Entry-level production hiring is immediate in most markets, and the meaningful move is from operator to skilled-trade or technician status — usually via employer-sponsored training or community-college certificates in machining, welding, or industrial maintenance. Each step is visible in the data as a different occupation with a measurably higher distribution.
New to reading wage distributions? Our guide to salary percentiles explains how to place yourself on the chart above, and the negotiation playbook shows how to use these numbers in an actual conversation.
What Do Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers Do?
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers positions belong to the production field. Production wages tell the story of American manufacturing in miniature: a smaller workforce than a generation ago, but more skilled and better paid where advanced manufacturing has replaced routine assembly. The occupation-level differences within this group — assembler versus machinist versus process technician — matter more than the group average.
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code: 51-4121
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers pay in Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers report a median of $56,300 (about $27.07/hour) across roughly 17,850 jobs. The local pay band runs from about $56,300 at the 10th percentile to $56,300 at the 90th.
Compared with the national distribution, local industry mix and cost of living are the main reasons Pennsylvania wages for this occupation sit where they do — toggle Regional Price Parity on this page to see purchasing-power-adjusted pay.
What your paycheck is really worth in Pennsylvania
Prices in Pennsylvania run 2% below the national average (RPP 97.6). So a nominal salary of $56,300 has the buying power of about $57,701 in national terms.
Pennsylvania vs. United States for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
The median welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers salary in Pennsylvania is $56,300, which is -0.5% below the national median of $56,580 (mean pay is -1.0% below the U.S. mean of $56,841). Among 51 states and D.C. with OEWS data, Pennsylvania ranks #30 by median wage for this occupation. Pennsylvania accounts for about 0.8% of U.S. welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers employment in the latest OEWS release.
See every state ranked for this occupation on the best-paying states page, or compare purchasing power on real wages.
Income reality check
The median salary for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers in Pennsylvania of $56,300 falls in the Middle class band of this framework - roughly ~10% of the U.S. population and ~10% of the global population sit in this band.
Illustrative relative standing for education only - this ladder is a simplified framework, not an official Census, BLS, or World Bank statistical series. Salary figures on Wage Atlas come from official BLS OEWS data.
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Occupation Report Card
Top Industries for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
| $63,279 | $60,919 | $30 | 89,130 | |
| $54,117 | $51,473 | $26 | 262,460 | |
| $52,929 | $50,394 | $25 | 41,440 | |
| $52,500 | $48,810 | $25 | 18,420 |
Related Occupations
SOC: 47-2073 • 87% match | $66,012 | $66,640 | $32 | 2,520,790 |
SOC: 33-3012 • 89% match | $63,717 | $64,220 | $31 | 2,264,250 |
SOC: 43-5052 • 88% match | $62,540 | $62,540 | $30 | 1,972,920 |
SOC: 51-4041 • 88% match | $59,171 | $58,900 | $28 | 1,527,250 |
| Find Occupation 51 4041 Jobs | ||||
SOC: 43-3021 • 89% match | $51,087 | $51,040 | $25 | 2,190,150 |
SOC: 51-9111 • 88% match | $44,503 | $44,590 | $21 | 1,913,210 |
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