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

Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Salary in the San Francisco Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area

Figures describe the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not San Francisco city limits.

Median annual wage$54,390
Median hourly wage$26.15

Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area earned a median of $54,390 per year ($26.15 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $44,680 at the 10th percentile to $139,830 at the 90th. BLS estimates 280 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in the San Francisco metro area earn more than $54,390 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $47,240 and $65,910.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$44,680$47,240$54,390$65,910$139,830
Hourly$21.48$22.71$26.15$31.69$67.23

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • San Francisco metro areathis metro area
    $54,390 median for San Francisco metro area; middle half earns $47,240 to $65,910
  • Californiastate (CA)
    $48,940 median for California; middle half earns $44,770 to $57,950
  • $47,920 median for United States; middle half earns $40,560 to $57,390

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +11% vs California overall and +14% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$26,980$45,403$63,827$82,250San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $26,980Traverse City, MI — $36,260Jackson, TN — $36,350Lima, OH — $36,490Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT — $37,040Springfield, OH — $38,440Ann Arbor, MI — $38,900Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $38,970Oklahoma City, OK — $39,840Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $39,980Montgomery, AL — $40,050Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $40,150Kalamazoo-Portage, MI — $40,240Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — $40,560Jackson, MI — $41,180Erie, PA — $41,530Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $41,760Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI — $42,830San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $43,230Fort Smith, AR-OK — $43,450Birmingham, AL — $43,480Youngstown-Warren, OH — $43,910Huntsville, AL — $44,030Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $44,060Evansville, IN — $44,240Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $44,370Greensboro-High Point, NC — $44,450Fort Wayne, IN — $44,670Wichita, KS — $44,760Chattanooga, TN-GA — $44,980Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $45,090Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $45,540Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $45,580Columbus, OH — $45,830Jacksonville, FL — $45,990Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $45,990Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $46,030York-Hanover, PA — $46,090Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $46,200Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $46,280Lancaster, PA — $46,330Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN — $46,370Gainesville, GA — $46,380Lynchburg, VA — $46,390Raleigh-Cary, NC — $46,450South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI — $46,460Eugene-Springfield, OR — $46,550Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $46,560Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $46,710Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $46,790Cleveland, OH — $47,020Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA — $47,090Pittsburgh, PA — $47,180Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR — $47,260Lansing-East Lansing, MI — $47,380Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $47,440Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT — $47,450Manchester-Nashua, NH — $47,500Fresno, CA — $47,560Akron, OH — $47,570Mansfield, OH — $47,690Elkhart-Goshen, IN — $47,840Knoxville, TN — $47,920Reno, NV — $47,930Reading, PA — $47,960Tulsa, OK — $48,000Toledo, OH — $48,110Canton-Massillon, OH — $48,190Baton Rouge, LA — $48,260New Haven, CT — $48,320Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $48,520Spartanburg, SC — $48,580Decatur, AL — $48,620Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $48,820Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $48,840Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $49,160San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $49,390Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $49,780Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $49,820Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $49,840Cedar Rapids, IA — $49,920Dubuque, IA — $49,930Oshkosh-Neenah, WI — $50,120Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $50,230Niles, MI — $50,370Waterbury-Shelton, CT — $50,370Rochester, NY — $50,530Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $50,740Worcester, MA — $50,760Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA — $50,860Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL — $51,000Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $51,110Springfield, MA — $51,110Richmond, VA — $51,270Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $51,290Sioux City, IA-NE-SD — $51,320Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $51,740Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $52,180Wausau, WI — $52,670San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $52,800Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $52,980Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $53,680San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $54,390Madison, WI — $54,440Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA — $54,470Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $54,500Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $54,970Chambersburg, PA — $55,110Omaha, NE-IA — $55,450Jackson, MS — $55,550Kansas City, MO-KS — $56,320Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $57,570Fond du Lac, WI — $57,640Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY — $57,690New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $57,900Springfield, MO — $58,320Asheville, NC — $58,450Green Bay, WI — $58,890Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $60,180St. Louis, MO-IL — $60,600Boise City, ID — $61,530Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $61,700Winston-Salem, NC — $64,120Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT — $64,380Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $66,570New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $74,910Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $75,200Tuscaloosa, AL — $82,250

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The San Francisco metro area has the 26th-highest published median for this occupation among the 128 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in California

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • San Francisco metro areathis page
    $54,390 median for San Francisco metro area; middle half earns $47,240 to $65,910
  • $52,800 median for San Jose metro area; middle half earns $48,980 to $59,470
  • $51,110 median for Sacramento metro area; middle half earns $45,760 to $59,150
  • $49,390 median for San Diego metro area; middle half earns $42,740 to $61,740
  • $47,560 median for Fresno metro area; middle half earns $46,500 to $53,990
  • $47,440 median for Riverside metro area; middle half earns $42,550 to $48,630
  • $46,030 median for Oxnard metro area; middle half earns $41,990 to $55,750

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Highest-paying metro areas for welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenderss · Highest-paying occupations in San Francisco Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

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.