Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders · SOC 51-4122

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenderss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 128 metro areas

Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Tuscaloosa, AL	$82,250	40	0.3
2	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$75,200	230	0.1
3	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$74,910	60	0.1
4	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$66,570	40	0.1
5	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$64,380	40	0.3
6	Winston-Salem, NC	$64,120	80	0.3
7	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$61,700	230	0.4
8	Boise City, ID	$61,530	40	0.1
9	St. Louis, MO-IL	$60,600	180	0.1
10	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$60,180	130	0.1
11	Green Bay, WI	$58,890	50	0.3
12	Asheville, NC	$58,450	40	0.2
13	Springfield, MO	$58,320	50	0.2
14	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$57,900	440	0.0
15	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$57,690	40	0.1
16	Fond du Lac, WI	$57,640	120	2.8
17	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$57,570	360	0.2
18	Kansas City, MO-KS	$56,320	90	0.1
19	Jackson, MS	$55,550	70	0.3
20	Omaha, NE-IA	$55,450	170	0.4
21	Chambersburg, PA	$55,110	30	0.5
22	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$54,970	60	0.0
23	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$54,500	700	0.2
24	Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	$54,470	50	0.6
25	Madison, WI	$54,440	60	0.1

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.