Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.7/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

69% (High Risk)

High Risk (61-80%): This occupation shows a significant risk of end-to-end replacement by automation. Many core parts of the role may be structured, repeatable, software-driven, or physically predictable enough for AI, machines, or robotic systems to take over. If you work in this area, it may be worth exploring safer related careers or moving towards more human-centred responsibilities.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

We have not found any highly rated human strengths for this job yet.

What users think

Based on 281 votes

51% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. However, the automation risk level we have generated suggests a much higher chance of automation: 69% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers was $51,000 ($25 per hour).

The median annual wage for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers was 3.0% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Moderate growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers' job openings is expected to rise 2.2% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 424,040 people employed as 'Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.28% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 363 people are employed as 'Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers'.

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What people are saying (9)

Leave a comment
Rafael (Moderate)
16 Apr 2026 17:45
i voted this because robots currently have blocky movements that may cause imperfections in welding but that will probably get smoothed out in the future.
Bob (No chance)
15 Apr 2026 13:43
A automated welding machine will not take most welders jobs, simply due to the fact that it is so expensive to do that most companies aren't going to foot the bill to replace a bunch of good, hard-working employees for some machines. AI will never replace the human connects that people make face to face with each other on job sites and in manufacturing plants.
Jami (Low)
18 Jun 2025 22:44
manufacturing welding has already started being replaced by machines, but the guys they call to a plant or a pipeline have to think and adapt to each unique situation, as well as fit all kinds of tight physical spaces. welders are safe
porter (Low)
11 Dec 2024 20:19
harsh factors, water, weather, predictability
Henrique (Low)
08 Dec 2024 08:01
im a welder and welding robots need a welder to watch what they are doing and configure them and set everything up.
ive seen a lot of welding robots and all of them couldnt keep a straight weld for long and eventually would weld out of the area that needed welding, and when i mean WELDING i trully mean WELDING and not spot welds like you see in cars or shitty welds that you see in cars, i mean structural welds and many other things.
Nick (Low)
07 Jul 2024 03:11
There are many specialized forms of welding that would be incredibly difficult for a robot to perform. Such as nuclear welding, due to radiation, underwater welding, due to uncertain conditions & need for actively adjusting the process, and more.
Welder (Uncertain)
24 Feb 2024 13:48
If is in a factory maybe
But he is a mobile welder doing odd jobs no
Jackson Harlin (No chance)
11 Aug 2022 03:05
The cost of robots is way too high, and robots can't be utilized in high numbers on pipelines and other field jobs.
Bruh
18 May 2021 20:21
you can just retrofit a CNC machine or a plasma cutter with a welding tip and boom its automated
Leave a reply about this occupation
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Job description

Use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand-soldering, or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.

O*NET-SOC code: 51-4121.00