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Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers in Tennessee

Considering working as a Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers in Tennessee? Here’s what you need to know. 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.

$47,280 Median Annual Wage (Tennessee)

$60,230 National Median Annual Wage

12,610 Tennessee Employment

Some Preparation Needed Typical Preparation

What do Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers Make in Tennessee?

For a welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers working in Tennessee, the median annual wage is $47,280 per year (or about $22.73/hour).Earnings range from $37,440 at the 10th percentile to $63,380 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$37,440	$18.00
25th percentile	$40,950	$19.69
Median (50th)	$47,280	$22.73
75th percentile	$54,970	$26.43
90th percentile	$63,380	$30.47

Salary ranges for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers in Tennessee

The location quotient — a measure of how concentrated this occupation is in Tennessee relative to the national average — is 1.40, meaning that welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers are more concentrated here than the national average.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers earn a median of $60,230 per year ($28.96/hour), below the Tennessee median.

Employment Outlook

There are roughly 231,383 welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in the U.S.. In Tennessee alone, around 12,610 people work in this role. That puts the state above the typical state, which employs around 6,310 welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers.

Forecasted number of jobs for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

Top Tennessee Metros for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

The largest metro-area employers of welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in Tennessee.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN	2,410	$50,660
Knoxville, TN	1,910	$47,370
Chattanooga, TN-GA	1,690	$48,440
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	1,620	$48,170
Clarksville, TN-KY	670	$51,760
Jackson, TN	660	$44,350
Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA	360	$49,400
Morristown, TN	240	$47,070
Johnson City, TN	220	$47,780
Cleveland, TN	150	$48,050

Top States for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers Employment

View the states that employ the most welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers work.

State	Number Employed
Texas	56,650
California	26,100
Ohio	20,110
Illinois	17,340
Wisconsin	16,820
Florida	16,390
Pennsylvania	16,060
Georgia	14,030
Michigan	13,640
Indiana	13,260
Tennessee	12,610
Alabama	12,570
Louisiana	12,360
North Carolina	12,020
Virginia	10,690
Missouri	10,270
Oklahoma	9,780
Minnesota	9,420
Iowa	9,250
New York	7,810

Highest-Paying States for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

These states pay the most for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers.

State	Annual Median Salary
Hawaii	$76,970
Alaska	$75,140
Wyoming	$66,070
Connecticut	$64,520
Washington	$61,730
Massachusetts	$61,710
North Dakota	$60,270
Louisiana	$59,860
New Jersey	$59,630
Nevada	$59,370

Skills

The most important welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Quality Control Analysis 3.1 / 5

Monitoring 3.0 / 5

Critical Thinking 2.9 / 5

Judgment and Decision Making 2.9 / 5

Operations Monitoring 2.8 / 5

Time Management 2.8 / 5

Knowledge Areas

Important knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Production and Processing 3.5 / 5

Mechanical 3.1 / 5

Mathematics 2.9 / 5

English Language 2.9 / 5

Design 2.8 / 5

Engineering and Technology 2.6 / 5

Abilities

The abilities that matter most for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Arm-Hand Steadiness 3.6 / 5

Near Vision 3.4 / 5

Finger Dexterity 3.2 / 5

Problem Sensitivity 3.2 / 5

Manual Dexterity 3.1 / 5

Control Precision 3.1 / 5

Daily Tasks

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers typically:

Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment.
Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals.
Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques.
Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter.
Align and clamp workpieces together, using rules, squares, or hand tools, or position items in fixtures, jigs, or vises.
Connect and turn regulator valves to activate and adjust gas flow and pressure so that desired flames are obtained.
Position and secure workpieces, using hoists, cranes, wire, and banding machines or hand tools.

Work Activities

Getting Information
Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
Handling and Moving Objects
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
Performing General Physical Activities
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
Making Decisions and Solving Problems
Controlling Machines and Processes
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work

Tools & Technology

Technologies frequently used: Hot technologies: Microsoft Excel

What Major Will Prepare You For This Career?

Several college majors map to this occupation:

Careers similar to welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers include:

Also Known As

Acetylene Burner, Acetylene Cutter, Acetylene Operator, Acetylene Torch Burner, Acetylene Torch Operator, Acetylene Torch Solderer, Aluminum Welder, Arc Cutter, Arc Wedler, Arc Welder, Assembler Brazer, Assembly Line Brazer, Atomic Welder, Bar Welder, Barrel Ribs Solderer.

References

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
O*NET-SOC code: 51-4121.00

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