Robotics workforce
Welder pay and outlook: $51,000 median, 457,300 jobs, +2%
$51,000 was the median annual pay for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in 2024, or $24.52 an hour, according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
The occupation held about 457,300 jobs in 2024, with employment projected to grow 2% from 2024 to 2034, slower than average, an increase of roughly 9,900 jobs over the decade.
Welding cells are a core robot application, so these figures get pulled into automation stories. This page traces the human occupation outlook and keeps it separate from any robot-displacement claim, which the outlook does not make.
Data covers BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook; wages May 2024 and projections 2024 to 2034. Published 2026-07-24. Last reviewed 2026-07-24. Last updated 2026-07-24. Edited by Mike Ramsey / Reliable Media.
The figures and where they come from
Each figure is rated for how safely you can cite it today. Ratings judge current usability, not whether a number was ever correct.
| Figure | What it is | Source | Citation Confidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $51,000 | Median annual wage | [A] | High | 2024 median pay. |
| $24.52 | Median hourly wage | [A] | High | Median hourly wage, May 2024. |
| 457,300 jobs | Employment level 2024 | [A] | High | Employment in the occupation in 2024. |
| +2% | Projected employment growth 2024–34 | [A] | High | Slower than average. |
| +9,900 jobs | Projected employment change 2024–34 | [A] | Medium | Absolute employment change over the decade, about 9,900 jobs. |
Why the numbers disagree
Outlook is not displacement. The 2% growth projection is the BLS's forecast for the human occupation; it is not a count of jobs automated away, and it already reflects whatever automation the BLS expects over the decade. A robotics writer who cites it as evidence of jobs lost to robots has the sign and the meaning wrong, since a projection of growth cannot double as a tally of losses.
Median hides the spread. A $51,000 median ($24.52 an hour) is the midpoint, with earners well above and below it depending on industry, region, shift, and certification. Pick either tail and you can tell a very different pay story from the same occupation, so treat the median as a center point rather than a typical ceiling or floor.
Job-title boundaries. Welders overlap with related production and machine roles, and a robotic welding operator or a maintenance technician tending a welding cell may be filed under a different occupation, so the 457,300 count depends on where the BLS draws the line, and a broader or narrower definition would move it.
Wage year versus projection window. The pay figures are 2024 medians, while the growth is a 2024-to-2034 forecast, so the page pairs a current-year number with a decade-out one. Keep the dates attached to each, or a reader may apply the 2024 wage to the future workforce the projection describes.
How to cite these figures
Cite it as BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: a 2024 median wage of $51,000 ($24.52 an hour) for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers, about 457,300 jobs, projected to grow 2% through 2034.
Give the growth as a rate and a level: 2%, or about 9,900 more jobs, over 2024 to 2034. The pair keeps a small percentage from sounding either larger or smaller than the headcount behind it.
Say 'human occupation outlook.' If you use it in a robotics piece, make clear it is not a forecast of jobs replaced by welding robots, since the two are easy to conflate.
Where people go wrong
Reading the 2% projection as the pace of robot displacement. It is the BLS employment outlook for the occupation, with expected automation already baked in.
Quoting the $51,000 median as a typical ceiling or floor. It is the midpoint of a wide range.
Treating 457,300 as every welding-related job. Some robotic welding roles are classified under other occupations.
How we checked
The figures trace to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook page for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers. We opened it and located the median pay, the hourly wage, the employment level, the growth rate, and the projected change before publishing, so every number on this page points at one primary page.
Wages are the 2024 median ($51,000 a year, $24.52 an hour); employment is 457,300 for 2024, and the projection is 2% growth from 2024 to 2034, about 9,900 jobs. We carried the BLS's own numbers rather than deriving or rounding them.
We rate the projected change Medium confidence because a decade-out projection is inherently less certain than a current-year wage or headcount, and we flag it as such in the table so a reader weights it accordingly.
Full source list
Primary sources, with live links. Every figure above traces to one of these.
- [A]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics2025
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers: Occupational Outlook Handbook
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/welders-cutters-solderers-and-brazers.htm
Common questions
- What is the median pay for welders?
- $51,000 a year in 2024, or $24.52 an hour, according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. Half earned more, half less.
- How many welding jobs are there, and how fast is the field growing?
- About 457,300 jobs in 2024, with employment projected to grow 2% through 2034, slower than average, an increase of roughly 9,900 jobs. That count depends on where the BLS draws the occupation's boundary, since some robotic welding roles fall under other titles.
- Does the 2% growth mean robots are not taking welding jobs?
- The 2% figure is the BLS's outlook for the human occupation, and it already factors in expected automation. It is a projection of growth for the role, not a separate robot-displacement forecast, so it cannot be read as a count of jobs lost to robots.
- Why is welding relevant to robotics?
- Welding is one of the most common industrial robot applications, so welder pay and staffing often come up in automation coverage. This page keeps the occupation figures distinct from robot claims.
More data, traced to source
- Electro-mechanical technician pay and jobs: the BLS numbers
The BLS tracks electro-mechanical and mechatronics technologists and technicians, the closest official occupation to a robotics maintenance tech. Median pay is about $70,760, with roughly 15,000 jobs and slow growth ahead.
- Who keeps the robots running, and what they earn: $64,520
The people who keep factory robots and machinery running are industrial machinery mechanics: 439,600 of them, a median of $64,520 a year, in a field growing much faster than average. A different, larger job than 'robotics technician.'
- What a robotics technician actually earns, and why the wage is hard to find
There is no federal wage line for a robotics technician. The government folds the job into a broader category with a median near $73,900 a year. This page shows where that number comes from and what it does and does not cover.