---
title: "Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender"
description: "Set up, operate, or tend welding, soldering, or brazing machines or robots that weld, braze, solder, or heat treat metal products, components, or…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/welding-soldering-and-brazing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-4122 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-4122.00

Set up, operate, or tend welding, soldering, or brazing machines or robots that weld, braze, solder, or heat treat metal products, components, or assemblies. Includes workers who operate laser cutters or laser-beam machines.

Also advertised as: Braze Operator; Certified Welder; Fabricator; Finishing Technician (Finishing Tech); Laser Operator; Machine Operator; Mig Welder; Spot Welder.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $47,920 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $23.04/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $36,860 to $66,540, with the middle half between $40,560 and $57,390
- **Total US employment:** 31,600
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -8.9% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 2,500 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 53/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 31,600 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $36,860 |
| 25th | $40,560 |
| 50th (median) | $47,920 |
| 75th | $57,390 |
| 90th | $66,540 |
| Mean (average) | $50,220 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AZ | $70,150 | $69,678 | 280 |
| AK | $62,700 | $61,255 | 50 |
| WA | $58,990 | $55,124 | 50 |
| IL | $58,840 | $58,865 | 180 |
| OR | $58,650 | $56,743 | 250 |
| WI | $57,640 | $61,257 | 1,150 |
| MN | $57,560 | $58,365 | 670 |
| NE | $57,280 | $63,572 | 650 |
| MO | $56,210 | $61,894 | 560 |
| NJ | $53,680 | $49,336 | 510 |
| SD | $52,520 | $59,287 | 150 |
| NY | $52,080 | $48,258 | 740 |
| IA | $51,740 | $58,955 | 1,310 |
| TX | $51,310 | $52,866 | 1,750 |
| ID | $50,850 | $53,249 | 100 |

30 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 45 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/welding-soldering-and-brazing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/welding-soldering-and-brazing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 32,900 in the 2025–2035 base year to 30,000 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 2,900 jobs, or -8.9%. Declining: -8.9% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 2,500 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 35.8% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 32.0% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 21.8% |
| Some College Courses | 10.4% |

## What the work involves

- Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications.
- Clean, lubricate, maintain, and adjust equipment to maintain efficient operation, using air hoses, cleaning fluids, and hand tools.
- Inspect, measure, or test completed metal workpieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using measuring and testing devices.
- Prepare metal surfaces or workpieces, using hand-operated equipment, such as grinders, cutters, or drills.
- Give directions to other workers regarding machine set-up and use.
- Set up, operate, or tend welding machines that join or bond components to fabricate metal products or assemblies.
- Mark weld points and positions of components on workpieces, using rules, squares, templates, or scribes.
- Select, position, align, and bolt jigs, holding fixtures, guides, or stops onto machines, using measuring instruments and hand tools.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Visualization — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.90 |
| I — Investigative | 2.02 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.50 |
| A — Artistic | 1.29 |
| S — Social | 1.13 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 87.6 |
| ISTP | 76.5 |
| ISFJ | 72.6 |
| ESTJ | 72.3 |
| INTJ | 64.9 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Welder](https://nuecareer.com/careers/welder) — median $53,750
- [Milling and Planing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/milling-and-planing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $52,800
- [Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter) — median $51,330
- [Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lathe-and-turning-machine-tool-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $50,620
- [Aircraft Structure, Surface, Rigging, and Systems Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-structure-surface-rigging-and-systems-assembler) — median $65,380
- [Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-equipment-assembler) — median $45,930
- [Industrial Machinery Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-machinery-mechanic) — median $64,520
- [Multiple Machine Tool Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/multiple-machine-tool-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $47,180
- [Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forging-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $49,030
- [Tool Grinder, Filer, and Sharpener](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tool-grinder-filer-and-sharpener) — median $50,060

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank 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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/welding-soldering-and-brazing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender