The Salary of a Bridge Welder
Welding involves the application of heat to metal, so the metal melts and fuses with other metal components. Bridge welders use this technique on bridges and spanning structures. They use hand-held equipment and machinery to join together metal parts of the structure, fill holes, reinforce seams and smooth indentations in components. They may also weld machinery used to help construct bridges. Salary levels are comparable to those for welders working in other areas of industry.
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Average Salary
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For the purposes of its national employment survey conducted in May 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics categorized bridge welders alongside their fellow welders, cutters, solderers and brazers working within the construction industry. The similar skill level for the trades makes the wages comparable, with the bureau listing the mean annual salary across the occupational grouping as $37,370, which translates into an hourly pay rate of $17.96. Individuals within the top 10 percent of earners received salaries of over $53,690, while their counterparts in the lowest 10 percent earned less than $23,940. At the time of publication, Indeed put the average salary for a bridge welder specifically at $43,000.
Salary by Industry
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Of the industry categories listed in the bureau's survey, bridge welders are most likely to fall into architectural and structural metals manufacturing or agricultural, construction and mining machinery manufacturing. The bureau listed the mean yearly wages within these sectors as $34,000 and $36,220, respectively. Those working in the repair and maintenance of commercial and industrial machinery and equipment earned a mean of $36,480 per year.
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Salary by Location
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Location also impacts a welder's salary. The bureau listed Alaska as the state in which, across all industry sectors, a welder, solderer, brazer or cutter was likely to earn the highest wages, with an annual mean of $66,260. Hawaii and Wyoming were also listed as comparatively lucrative states to work in, with respective annual means of $53,910 and $49,490. California and North Dakota were reported to have similar pay rates -- $39,390 and $38,840, respectively -- while Oklahoma was among the states with the lowest wages, at just $34,880 per year.
Prospects
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment opportunities for construction workers such as bridge welders will decline by around 2 percent over the period from 2008 to 2018. This compares with estimated growth of between 7 and 13 percent for the nation as a whole across all occupations. Enhanced productivity of individual welders brought about by technological advancements, as well as increased automation in the trade, will be key factors in this decline. As such, wage levels for the role are unlikely to grow significantly in the immediate future.
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References
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